‘China is an exception’: India says it has good ties with all big powers - besides one

India’s foreign minister says relations have suffered from China’s ‘posture at the border’ and because Beijing ‘violated agreements’
His comments come ahead of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi next month that senior Chinese officials are set to attend

India

Reuters

Published: 12:02pm, 22 Feb 2023

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Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says New Delhi has a good relationship with all major global powers except China, which he said had violated border management agreements.

India’s ties with Russia had been extraordinarily steady despite turbulence in global politics over the war in Ukraine, Jaishankar added, in an interview broadcast on Tuesday by Indian news agency ANI.

The tensions with neighbour China had resulted in India having the largest peace time deployment of troops on the disputed frontier, Jaishankar said.

Indian soldiers stand guard on a snow-covered mountain pass near the disputed border with China. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

“India’s relationship with major powers is good. China is an exception because it violated agreements … has a posture at the border as a result we have a counter posture,” Jaishankar said, referring to India’s military mobilisation and investment in border infrastructure.

The minister’s comments come ahead of the March 1-2 meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 nations in Delhi, which senior Chinese government officials are due to attend.

The Asian giants share a 3,500km (2,100 mile) border in the Himalayas called the Line of Actual Control that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two sides went to war over it in 1962.

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At least 24 soldiers were killed when the two armies clashed in 2020 but tensions eased after military and diplomatic talks.

A fresh clash erupted between the two sides in the eastern Himalayas in December last year but there were no deaths.

Jaishankar said India’s view that the war in Ukraine needed a peaceful solution was shared by many countries.

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India has kept a neutral stance on the war, declining to blame Russia for the invasion of its neighbour, seeking a diplomatic solution and increasing its purchases of Russian oil over the past year.

Russia has been India’s biggest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceutical products.

“The world is still very divided on the Ukraine war … Modi wants to create a momentum for peace,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s willingness to help calm tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

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On nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, Jaishankar said Islamabad will have to find its own way out of its financial crisis.

“Our relationship today is not one where we can be directly relevant to that process,” he said about critical funds the ailing South Asian economy desperately needs.