NEW DELHI: India will not tolerate any unilateral change in the status quo at LAC and bilateral ties with China will not become normal until Beijing stops seeking the same, reiterated external affairs minister S Jaishankar in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Responding to queries by MPs after his suo motu statement on foreign policy in the House, the minister said India has made it clear to China that it will not tolerate any unilateral change in LAC.
“Diplomatically, we have been very clear... with the Chinese that we will not tolerate any unilateral change to the LAC. And that so long as they continue to seek to do that, and if they have built-up forces, which in our minds constitute a serious concern in the border areas, our relationship will not be normal,” he said. “And the abnormality of that (relations) has been in evidence in the last few years.”
He said the military commanders of the two countries continue to engage each other. “I think given the sensitivity of that matter, it is something which is left to the military commanders to deal with,” he said, as he also called upon the House to be understanding of the “national sensitivity of such a delicate matter”.
Jaishankar justified the government’s support to Sri Lanka, saying India would be shirking its responsibility if it did not step forward to support a crisis-hit neighbour. The economic support that India offered to Sri Lanka was for the entire country and not based on any communal approach, he said.
