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Rapidly rising economies India and China, who also happen to be neighbours, have no choice but to get along with each other, Indian foriegn minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. He, however, acknowledged that the challenge was to find the basis for a stable relationship.
Speaking at the fifth Raisina Dialogue in the national capital, Jaishankar said given that the two countries were neighbours, it was imperative that neither get the relationship with the other wrong.
Both countries share a unique characteristic, he noted, which is that both are going up the “in the international order at the same time.”
India and China are also establishing “a new equilibrium with the world and each other,” Jaishankar said. “It is absolutely necessary that both countries find an equilibrium. It’s a must not a choice,” he said, adding that stabilizing ties is a “work in progress.”
Both the countries have had a long-running border dispute dating back to 1962 that remains unresolved. India is suspicious of China’s close ties with Pakistan while Beijing looks warily at New Delhi’s growing closeness and warming ties with Washington.
On ties with Russia, Jaishankar said New Delhi’s ties with Moscow had been “extradordinarily steady” and fundamentally rooted in a geopolitical understanding.
This came in the backdrop of comments and news reports of a growing distance between New Delhi and Moscow over India’s ties with the US and Russia’s growing closeness to India’s arch rival Pakistan.
Talking about India’s place in the world, Jaishankar said that New Delhi was not a “disruptor.” It is a political democracy and a pluralistic society which has been historically open to the world. As it grows economically and into its role as a leading power, the world would see India’s opinions or preferences expressed more decisively, he said.
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