Won’t agree to unilateral change in status quo: S Jaishankar on India-China border row

With both sides yet to resolve a few friction points along the LAC, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted India would not agree to any attempt by China to unilaterally change the status quo in Ladakh.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India and China have made "significant headway" in disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. However, there are some friction points that are yet to be resolved, he noted.

“We had 13 rounds of discussion by military commanders focused on disengagement. As a result, we've made significant headway in many of the friction points. There are some friction points which still remain to be resolved,” Jaishankar said during an interaction at a think-tank in Paris on Tuesday.

Jaishankar asserted that India will not look kindly upon any attempt by Beijing to unilaterally change the status quo at the India-China border.

We are absolutely clear that we will not agree to any change in the status quo, any attempt to change the LAC unilaterally by one side: EAM Dr S Jaishankar at IFRI, Paris

The foreign minister did express optimism about the resolution of the border row, no matter how “complex it is, [or] however long it takes.”