Chicago – December 04, 2024
ndia and China will consider “other aspects” of their bilateral ties in a calibrated manner now that they have completed pulling back their troops from the last two face-off points on their Himalayan border, India’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The comments came six weeks after New Delhi and Beijing reached a deal to resolve a four-year military stand-off that had damaged the relationship between the Asian giants, indicating that India is willing to improve business ties that were also hurt.
Relations between the world’s two most populous nations – both nuclear powers – have been strained since clashes between their troops on the frontier in the western Himalayas left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in 2020.
India severed direct air links with China, banned hundreds of Chinese mobile applications, and added layers of vetting on Chinese investments, saying the relationship could not be normal if there was no peace on the frontier.
China maintained that the border conflict should not be allowed to come in the way of the rest of the relationship.
“The conclusion of the disengagement phase now allows us to consider other aspects of our bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping our national security interests first and foremost,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament without elaborating.
