LAC impasse impacting India-China ties negatively, Jaishankar tells Wang

External Affairs Minister calls for China to follow through on disengagement agreement.

The impasse between Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is “visibly impacting” bilateral ties “negatively”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they met in Dushanbe on the sidelines of the SCO meeting on Wednesday. Highlighting the lack of movement in the disengagement process apart from the earlier this year, Mr. Jaishankar said India had hoped China would “follow through” in resolving issues at the LAC, as had been agreed in a five-point agreement with Mr. Wang when the two Ministers had last met in Moscow last September. “Highlighted that unilateral change of status quo is not acceptable. Full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is essential for development of our ties,” Mr. Jaishankar said in a tweet after the hour-long meeting. While Indian and Chinese troops completed the first round of disengagement in February 2021, withdrawing from areas and posts around the Pangong lake, officials have said China continues to stall talks on withdrawing from the other areas where PLA troops have amassed since April 2020, including at Depsang, Gogra and Hotsprings areas in Ladakh. Also read |