India-China ties – “abnormal” since April 2020, when the two militaries clashed in parts of eastern Ladakh, leading to fatalities on both sides for the first time in 45 years – have improved recently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha Tuesday, explaining that “continuous diplomatic engagement since then (has) set our ties in the direction of some improvement”.
India remains committed, Mr Jaishankar said, to engaging with China “through bilateral talks to arrive at a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement for the border issue”.
“Members will recall the amassing of a large number of troops by China along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020 resulted in face-offs with our forces at a number of points. The situation also led to disruption of patrolling activities,” the EAM began his remarks.
“It is to the credit of our armed forces that despite logistical challenges, and the then prevailing Covid situation, they were able to counter-deploy rapidly and effectively,” he said.