External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday apprised the Lok Sabha over the progress and challenges in the India-China border, saying that India remains committed to engaging with China to arrive at a fair and mutually acceptable framework for boundary settlement.
Speaking in the Lower House, he said that the ties between the two countries have been “abnormal” since 2020, when peace, tranquillity in border areas were “disturbed due to Chinese actions”.
“Recent developments that reflect continuous diplomatic engagements have set Indo-China ties in direction of some improvement,” Jaishankar said.
“We remain committed to engaging with China to arrive at fair, mutually acceptable framework for boundary settlement,” he added.
The Union minister said that amassing of troops by China in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020 resulted in face-offs at number of points.
It is to credit of our forces that despite logistical challenges and COVID-19, they countered Chinese troops rapidly, he said.
“After Galwan Valley clashes, we were addressing situation that not only saw fatalities but events that needed heavy weaponry deployment. Immediate priority was to ensure disengagement from friction points, this has been fully achieved,” the EAM said.