New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar once again asserted that the world had taken note of how India had reacted to the Uri and Balakot incidents and the manner in which it had countered Chinese aggression. He also said until the border issue was resolved, ties with Beijing would not be normal.
Addressing the Forum For Nationalist Thinkers, Hyderabad Chapter Talk On ‘India’s G20 Presidency’ in Hyderabad on Sunday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said relations with China will not improve until the issue of the face-off that happened at the beginning of the COVID lockdown is resolved.
Notably, the lockdown during the COVID pandemic began in 2020 and the Galwan face-off between India and China took place in 2020.
He said: “We were completely preoccupied with the Covid challenge. Please appreciate the enormity of what PM Modi did. He deployed forces at this great height in very difficult conditions in the middle of Covid, and then took this challenge (military confrontation with China) head on.”
The EAM said that today the world is taking notice of the change with which India addresses its issues.
While addressing the issues with China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that happened in 2020, the EAM said that we must not forget that it happened when our lockdown had just started.
“We were completely preoccupied with the COVID challenge. Please appreciate the anonymity of what Prime Minister Modi did. He deployed forces at this great height in very difficult conditions in the middle of COVID. And then took this challenge head-on,” he added.
He also spoke on how the infrastructure near the border areas has changed, he said that there is a challenge of infrastructure near the borders because it was neglected for a long time.
“Our roads in northern areas have doubled, and tunnelling has tripled,” he added.
The world is also noticing how India is dealing with the issue of terrorism. “Terrorism has troubled us for a long time. But the rest of the world compares how we reacted to 26/11, and how we reacted to Uri and Balakot. They see the difference,” Mr Jaishankar said.
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