LAC face-off: Solution 'has to be found' in diplomacy, says foreign minister S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: Confirming he would be meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10, foreign minister S. Jaishankar said, the solution to the current India-China crisis in the western sector “has to be found in the domain of diplomacy.”
Launching his book, The India Way, at a virtual event at the think tank ORF, Jaishankar told his interviewer, Samir Saran, president of ORF, “We have a situation in the western sector. … I am not playing down seriousness of situation. Neither party should try to change status quo. What happens at the border will impact relationship.”
Jaisharkar’s remarks are seen as a repeated message to the Chinese authorities that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation. “That will happen if both sides understand its in their own interest.”
“It is vital for both countries (India and China) to reach an accommodation,” he said.
Expanding on the state of the world, he said, the “world of agreements is over, it is now the world of convergences. It’s a more pragmatic world, but one with a lot more hedging and balancing.”
An example of this, he said, is the fact that India is an active member of the SCO, BRICS as well as the Quad. “If you are looking at multipolar world & convergences then we will look at different combinations. To be in Quad, SCO, RIC, JAI — this is world we need to come to terms with, not a zero sum game.”
The most important development of late is the changed approach of US. “I regard that as the most startling and impactful shift in recent memory. The US is a key fulcrum around which international affairs revolved. From the 1990s onwards, US had a global project.”
The US has “shifted” from that position, Jaishankar said, including its views on the utility of alliances, or even multilateral organisations. “This is an era when the US is disrupting the world to get a better deal from the world."