‘The rise of China is a reality, but…,’ EAM S Jaishankar reflects on India-China relations

November 16, 2023 1:40 pm

New Delhi: Speaking on the India-China relations, External Affairs Minister of India, Dr S Jaishankar said that the rise of China is a reality but there is an equal reality that is the rise of India.

During a conversation with journalist Lionel Barber at the High Commission of India in London on Wednesday, Jaishankar emphasised that the rise of China is a reality but there is an equal reality that is the rise of India. “The rise may be different…quantitatively or qualitatively they may not be identical,” he said.

As reported by ANI, EAM said, “The two (India and China) are among the oldest civilisations in the world…There are realities that need to be recognised…We are the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest in terms of population.”

Recent Chinese provocations, such as the release of the 2023 edition of its “standard map” asserting claims over Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region, along with the denial of visas to Indian athletes for the Hangzhou Asian Games, have further strained the already tense relationship between India and China.

As the first minister to hold bilateral talks with the newly appointed UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, Jaishankar said they covered a range of regional issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and also the Israel-Hamas conflict in West Asia.

He also shared that Cameron presented him with a cricket bat signed by both England and Indian cricket teams, a gift he described as “very special”.

S. Jaishankar participated in the repatriation ceremony held in London for the stolen 8th-century temple idols, Yogini Chamunda and Yogini Gomukhi, originally from Lokhari in Uttar Pradesh.

As per an official release by the Ministry of External Affairs, “The visit further consolidated the long-standing historical ties between the two countries and provided a new impetus to bilateral cooperation in diverse areas against the backdrop of progress on the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and Roadmap 2030.”

Earlier in August, Jaishankar highlighted the India-China relationship that has gone through cycles of conflict and cooperation over 75 years and said the ties between the two nations have not been easy.

peaking at the ‘Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations’ in New York, Jaishankar had said, “I was the ambassador in 2009, right after the global financial crisis, till 2013. I saw the change of guard in China, and then I came to the US. It has never been an easy relationship. It always had its share of problems.”