"High time China changed its behaviour": Indian experts after Jaishankar's border remarks

By Ayushi Agarwal
New Delhi [India], August 30 : Indian experts are calling for China to change its behaviour amid the bitter relations between the two countries due to the border standoff.
Experts believe that the Chinese have to understand and respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India if they are looking at any meaningful and good relationship between the two countries.
"India has always said that the border incursions are indeed a red line as far as China is concerned. But China really believes in changing the status quo wherever it can and it tries to do that. But after the Galwan incident, they have understood that India cannot just stand and watch or will not respond", Anil Kumar Trigunayat, former senior diplomat told ANI.
This comes after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made his remarks that the state of the border will determine the state of the India-China relationship. He was speaking at the launch of the Asia Society Policy Institute yesterday.
"Much of the future of Asia depends on how relations between India and China develop in the foreseeable future. For ties to return to a positive trajectory and remain sustainable, they must be based on the three mutuals: mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest. Their current status is, of course, well known to all of you. I can only reiterate that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship," said EAM.
"We can reasonably expect Asia to continue rising because the economic and demographic trends point in that direction. How divided it would be depends on how well or badly its fissures are managed. And this, in turn, would demand adherence to laws, norms and rules. For a start, sovereignty and territorial integrity will have to be respected", he further added.
Indian experts see this remarks by the minister as a reflection of India's foreign policy and believe that things can no longer remain the same between India and China if China continues its hostile stance on the Line of Actual Control.
"External Affairs Minister made it very clear that if you want other situations in the India and China equation to improve, it has to start first with the border. If the border tensions go then we can look into normalizing the other aspects of the India-China relationship and that message has been conveyed very clearly", said Major General (Rtd) Dhruv C Katoch to ANI.
The experts also added that China needs to stop its 'wolf-warrior diplomacy' and they need to introspect on what kind of China they wish to emerge on the global stage.
Relations between India and China soured following a standoff in April-May 2020 over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including the Finger Area, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, and Kongrung Nala. The situation worsened after violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June, 2020.