India ready to take ‘historic perspective’ to end row: China
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, July 26
A day after the Foreign Ministers of India and China met at Laos, the Chinese foreign ministry has put out a statement that does not match India’s version of the event and goes on to claim the Indian side is ready to take a ‘historic’, ‘strategic’ and ‘open perspective’ to find solutions to the differences.
The Chinese statement put out on Friday used phrases that give an erroneous impression of the events at Laos. The Indian side had put out its version on Friday night after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meet.
Sources in India said, “Chinese have used words on their own in their statement. It’s their old habit.”
Describing the options of resolving issues, the Chinese foreign ministry said, “The Indian side is ready to take a historic, strategic and open perspective to find solutions to the differences and get the bilateral relations back to a positive and constructive track.”
No such thing was conveyed to China, the sources said.
The Indian statement yesterday quoted Jaishankar as saying “disturbance to peace and tranquillity” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) had cast a shadow on the ties between the two countries for the past four years. The statement said both sides stressed “urgency” in resolving the ongoing military standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
