NEW DELHI, Oct 14: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that stability along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is essential for normalising relations between India and China, warning that any disturbance along the border would have consequences for broader bilateral ties.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday evening, Jaishankar also linked the expansion of trade and investment relations between the two countries to peace and tranquillity in border areas.
“If you want a normal relationship, if the rest of the relationship is to move, it is common sense that the boundary has to be stable and that we need peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” he said, referring to India’s message to China.
Jaishankar observed that the situation along the LAC had largely stabilised since 2024, with bilateral relations gradually moving towards normalcy.
India and China have taken several confidence-building measures in recent months to repair ties strained by the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh, which ended in late 2024.
Asked whether India would consider allowing greater Chinese investment following an early agreement on the boundary issue, Jaishankar said various possibilities were being examined.
He clarified that India was not insisting on a complete resolution of the boundary dispute as a prerequisite for doing business with China. Instead, he said, maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border remained the immediate requirement.
Jaishankar added that business policy and market-access issues would be addressed separately from negotiations on the boundary question.
The External Affairs Minister also raised concerns over the economic relationship, particularly the trade imbalance between the two countries.
He said bilateral trade was heavily tilted in China’s favour and alleged that Indian businesses faced inadequate market access in China in several sectors where they had performed well elsewhere in the world.
According to Jaishankar, India was not receiving the same level playing field in China that it had extended to Chinese businesses.
Recalling the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, he said the confrontation marked a major departure from the relative peace that had prevailed along the border for decades.
Jaishankar noted that no fatalities had occurred along the India-China border between 1975 and 2020 before the deadly clashes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the events of 2020 severely strained bilateral relations, with the consequences remaining evident in the following years until peace and tranquillity were restored along the border.
The minister reiterated that stability in the border areas was fundamental to progress in the broader India-China relationship.
