Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said the recent disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh was a “welcome step” that opened the possibility for other similar measures to follow.

His remarks came just days after troops from neighboring countries completed their disengagement at the two friction points of Demchok and Depsang, four years after lingering tensions following the war. 2020 border skirmishes.

Disengagement involved the withdrawal of troops, tents and temporary structures. Patrolling in Demchok began on November 1, while Indian troops also began verification patrols in Depsang.

Speaking to members of the Indian community at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on Sunday, Jaishankar said: “As far as India and China are concerned, yes, we have made progress. You know, our relations were very, very disrupted… We “We made progress in what we call disengagement, which is when the troops were very close together, with the possibility may this lead to an untoward incident.”

“There are very large numbers of Chinese troops deployed along the LAC that were not there before 2020. And we, in turn, have counter-deployed. There are other aspects of the relationship that have also been affected during this period so it is clear that we will have to see after the disengagement, what direction we take. But we think that the disengagement is a welcome step, because it opens up the possibility that other steps could be taken. place,” he added.

The Union Minister also said that the anticipation following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month would be a follow-up interaction between himself, national security advisers and their counterparts in Beijing.

On October 21, India announced that it had reached an agreement with China on patrol along the LAC, marking a breakthrough to end the over four-year military standoff, which began following the deadly clashes between troops of the two countries in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley.

S JAISHANKAR ON GLOBAL CONFLICTS

During the interaction at the University of Queensland, the Foreign Minister also spoke about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, reiterating that “we are trying to do something in both cases.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said India was working to bring diplomacy back to the forefront, with Prime Minister Modi personally involved in meetings with the leaders of the two warring nations.

Because of the conflict, the world has a cost every day, in addition to that of Russia and Ukraine, he said, adding: “So this is a situation that calls for a certain degree of activity or a proactive diplomacy. We are trying to do that.”

Regarding the war in the Middle East, Jaishankar said the situation was very different.

“At the moment, the effort is more about preventing the conflict from spreading. And, here, one of the gaps is the inability of Iran and Israel to talk directly to each other. So different countries are trying to see if they can, you I know, close that gap. We’re one of them,” he said, without elaborating.