India, China have agreed to disengagement, de-escalation process, it is work in progress: Jaishankar

By Sahil Pandey/ Joymala Bagchi
New Delhi [India], July 11 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that India and China have agreed to disengagement along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and de-escalation from border areas and it is a work in progress.
Speaking at a virtual session during India Global Week 2020, he also spoke of the need for two countries to find common points to work together.
"We have agreed on the need to disengage because troops are deployed very close to each other. Disengagement and de-escalation process has been agreed and it has just commenced. It is very much a work in progress," Jaishankar said.
"It is important for countries who have overlaps and convergences to look for common points to be able to work together," he added.
Speaking on the growing ties between Indian and United States, he said the US presidents over the past nearly three decades have agreed on the importance of India and strengthening the bilateral relationship.
"Think back at last four US presidents - Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton and you would agree that you can't find four people in the world less similar to each other. Yet one thing on which they agreed is the importance of India and need to strengthen that relationship," Jaishankar said.
"Maybe some of it is our charm but I think a lot of it is also their thinking. We have a very strong political, strategic, security, technology, economic relationship and defence corporation with the United States," he added.
Jaishankar said, "it is a relationship which took six decades to find itself and now it is making up for the lost time".
On India's relations with the United Kingdom, he said, "It's important for the UK to understand what New India is about and try and relate to its thinking."
He also talked of evolving relationship with Australia beyond cricket, trade and people-to-people ties.
"Today, in India and Australia there is a sense of ensuring that the larger region is more secure and stable," he said.
Sharing his thoughts on the evolving scenario as countries battle the COVID-19 pandemic, he said "it is going to be a more difficult world".
"I see a world where arguments will sharpen. I think there will be issues of trust which has been raised. There will be questions on resilient supply chains. It is going to be a more difficult world. A lot of trends that we saw before coronavirus, they could accelerate in the post COVID world. Even in response, in six months, for example, we have seen a lot of countries behaving more nationalistically," he said.
Themed `Be The Revival: India and a Better New World', India Global Week 2020, the three-day event concluded on Saturday.
The summit offered a platform to explore the business, strategic and cultural opportunities that India has to offer the world, understand the challenges and make informed decisions as countries look ahead to a better, brighter future beyond COVID-19.
The webinar included sessions on geopolitics, business, arts and culture, emerging technologies, banking and finance, pharma, defence and security, social impact and the Indian diaspora. It also featured high-powered country sessions on Australia, Japan, Singapore, the US, and the UK.