Bengaluru: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India-China relations cannot be normal unless border situation is and added that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact the relations further.
“We have maintained our position that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact our relations. Our relationship is not normal, it cannot be normal as the border situation is not normal,” EAM S Jaishankar said in Bengaluru on the India-China issue.
Jaishankar also said that the big problem is the border situation and Indian military has been holding on to the ground.
“We have made substantial progress in pulling back from places where we were very close to the LOC,” he added.
Moreover, S Jaishankar while speaking on the Belt and Road Initiative noted, “There was a violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, the fact that third country is doing things on sovereign Indian territory occupied by another country.”
Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the government has seen reports about third countries participating in projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Projects, and any such activity by any party directly infringed on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Baghchi said India firmly and consistently opposes projects in the “so-called CPEC, which are in Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan”.
“Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable, and will be treated accordingly by India,” the official statement added.
Responding to media queries regarding the participation of third countries in CPEC Projects, the MEA spokesperson Bagchi said: “We have seen reports on encouraging a proposed participation of third countries in so-called CPEC projects.”
“Any such actions by any party directly infringe on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
The response of the MEA comes amid reports that Pakistan and China have decided to invite any interested third country to join the multibillion-dollar infrastructure CPEC project which they termed as mutually beneficial cooperation.
The third meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group (JWG) on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) was held on Friday, July 22 in virtual mode.
In 2015, China announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion, of which Balochistan is an integral part.
CPEC is a part of China’s most ambitious project ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, aimed at renewing the country’s historic trade routes in the coastal countries of south-east Asia. NDTV
