Onus on China to resolve issues at LAC, Indian Foreign Secretary Shringla

New Delhi – ‘Until there is peace and tranquillity at the LAC border area, India and China cannot restore a normal relationship. China had incited India, which was making one-sided efforts to improve the situation at the LAC. But, there are still friction points at the LAC border, so the ball is in China’s court,’ warned Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Moreover, former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran cautioned that China has been maintaining pressure on the LAC to prove its strong power.

China had tried to intrude and take action at the LAC to change the situation. Besides, China cannot expect to improve relation with India by carrying out such activities. At the same time, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla drew attention to the fact that China has not yet withdrawn from some parts of the LAC. In an online conference, the Indian foreign secretary said it is up to China to improve its relation with India. But, this is not possible unless China withdraws its army from the LAC, he indicated.

Last year, the India-China relations escalated after China attempted to intrude into the LAC. Moreover, Shringla reminded that these relations could not be restored unless China withdraws from the LAC completely. Over the last few weeks, China has been appealing to India not to let the border tension affect the India-China bilateral cooperation. China says that trade cooperation can be carried out, despite the border tensions. China has adopted a stance that the border issue should be handed over to the local army officials; the senior officials need not discuss it.

By localizing the issue of border conflict, China is making efforts to intensify its border invasion. But, India dismissed this Chinese demand. India has demanded that China should withdraw from the LAC to the extent it used to be until last year. Against this background, former Indian foreign secretary and diplomat Shyam Saran warned, alerting about China.

Last year, a major kind of an event like that of Ladakh stand-off would not have taken place without sanctions from the highest echelons of the Chinese leadership. So, one should not make the mistake of assuming that this was a local incident. This had sanctions of the highest level of Chinese leadership. If it did not, they would have tried to resolve it now, said Shyam Saran.

All the Asian countries must accept China’s supremacy or face its consequences; this is the message China is trying to convey. In order to show its higher league, China would continue to escalate the border tension, Shyam Saran alerted India about it. He thus, also said that India is the only nation capable of countering China. Hence, India will have to take stringent measures within the country and also on the international level, warned Saran.