Jaishankar was in New York earlier to attend the recently concluded annual UN General Assembly; he later flew to Washington where he also met his US counterpart Antony Blinken among other officials of the Biden administration.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar has said India will maintain a relationship with China that is based on "mutual" sensitivity, respect, and interest. His remarks came during a media briefing on Wednesday as he responded to a question on the relationship between the two countries.
"What I have said, to my mind represents accurate policy assessment of where the state of our relations is. We continue to strive for a relationship with China, but one that is built on mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest," Jaishankar said as he concluded his four-day visit to Washington DC in the United States, where he arrived earlier this month for a crucial UN session.
Jaishankar was in New York earlier to attend the recently concluded annual UN General Assembly; he later flew to Washington where he also met his US counterpart Antony Blinken among other officials of the Biden administration.
When asked about a Chinese envoy's comments regarding the "overall" stability on the India-China border, the minister said: "I think if the spokesperson of a foreign ministry were to say something, I would urge you to see a comment from the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of the corresponding country."
Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong had earlier stated the situation on the India-China border is "overall stable" and the two sides have moved from the "emergency response" that followed the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 to "normalised management and control".
Jaishankar also spoke on the developments in the Indo-Pacific and how India and the US are planning to handle them.
Emphasising the two countries have a shared objective of betterment and strengthening of the Indo-Pacific, Jaishankar said: “Where Indian and US interests converge, and they do, I think, is on the stability and the security, the progress, the prosperity, the development of the Indo Pacific."
"Because you have seen, even in the case of Ukraine, a war fought a great distance away, has the potential, has the capability of actually creating turbulence across the world in terms of implications for the daily lives of people,” he added.
Jaishankar said the world today is very globalised, extremely interlocked, and interdependent. “It is therefore to say that we have skin in the game is an understatement. I think we have vital stakes today in ensuring that the larger region is stable, that it is secured; that there is cooperation and that the focus is on the right things,” he said.
“To my view, what we have seen in recent years, is an India whose interests and inclinations extend sufficiently eastwards into the Pacific and the United States, which is open enough to work flexibly and comfortably with partners going beyond the orthodox limitations in the past of treaties and alliances,” he said.
India and China have withdrawn frontline troops from the two banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Springs after rounds of diplomatic and military talks. The relations between the two countries soured after the eastern Ladakh standoff and India has since maintained that peace along the Line of Actual Control is key for the overall development of the ties.
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