![]() ![]() Fundamentally, the contradiction is that without India there is no “Indo-Pacific Strategy” against China. There is continuing Western interference in India-China relations and the fact that the government has sequestered the bilateral track with China is not going to be to the liking of the West. Persistent foreign outflows from India’s equity and debt markets have also weighed on the rupee. India’s current foreign exchange reserves are at their lowest since October 2020. Time may have come to build up a clearing system among BRICS countries. There could be looming currency and foreign exchange worries. The Ukraine conflict is adding to global inflation by raising the cost of energy and other raw commodities while an increasingly hawkish US Fed is tightening its policies, and significantly reducing its balance sheet. Speaking of India, its analysts prefer - either due to ignorance or with deliberation - to sidestep the correlation between a peaceful and tranquil border and the country’s overall economic situation. For China, issues of war and peace in the Taiwan Strait are a top priority.Īs for India, a crucial period of adjustment to new geopolitical conditions lies ahead which presents daunting challenges to its strategic autonomy and independent foreign policies, stemming from the West’s attempts to polarize the world community against Russia and China.īoth India and China sense the high importance of pursuing their respective trajectories of economic growth and development optimally in a difficult and unfavorable climate internationally. That said, if there is going to be a meeting at Samarkand, this disengagement indeed provides the setting for constructive discussion.īoth governments have high stakes in maintaining peace and tranquility along the LAC in the present hugely transformative period in the world order. Unfortunately, some Indian commentators have rushed to belittle what has unfolded in recent months by linking it to a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week at Samarkand. Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar. Only four days prior to that, on August 30, when Jaishankar said much of Asia’s future depends on how the ties between the two countries develop in the foreseeable future, and for the ties to return to a positive trajectory, they must be based on mutual sensitivity, mutual respected and mutual interest, he was clearly addressing China. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pointedly reminded the domestic public opinion about this on September 4 even as the announcement on the disengagement four days later was being drafted jointly with China. ![]() How the “status quo” is to be understood is not yet in the public domain, but presumably, it is to mutual satisfaction.Ī judicious admixture of firmness and realism (on both sides) has made this agreement possible. ![]() This is hugely important, given the two vastly divergent narratives on what precipitated the standoff two years ago. Simply put, there will be no attempts by either side to indulge in any “mission creep” to seize unilateral advantage of territory. The last two elements - prohibiting “unilateral change in status quo” and the commitment to resolve the remaining issues - are, quite obviously, interrelated. Going forward, the sides will “take the talks forward and resolve the remaining issues along LAC and restore peace and tranquility in India-China border areas.”.“The agreement ensures that the LAC in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides, and that there will be no unilateral change in status quo.”.“The landforms in the area will be restored to pre-stand-off period by both sides.”.All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides “will be dismantled and mutually verified.”.Both sides will “cease forward deployments in this area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, resulting in the return of the troops of both sides to their respective areas.”.The following key elements draw attention: Broadly, a consensus reached at the 16th round of the India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting on July 17 has since been fleshed out by the two sides, and the actual disengagement commenced on Thursday which will be completed on coming Monday. India’s Official Spokesman Arindam Bagchi shared on Friday more details. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has done the right thing by explaining its taciturn press release on Thursday (September 8) in a single sentence regarding the disengagement of troops in the area of Gogra-Hotsprings along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas. ![]()
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