Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday called for a fresh push into the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission of the Indian government in the backdrop of the strained ties with China along the Line of Actual Control, stating that developments in eastern Ladakh have “impacted the broader relationship” between the two countries.
“Our External Affairs Minister has said that the ability of India and China to work together will determine the Asian century. For this to materialise, peace and tranquility in the border areas is a sine qua non. He has also clearly articulated that development of our ties can only be based on mutuality – mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests should guide this process,” Shringla said in his remarks at a seminar on ‘Leveraging China’s Economy’.
He said that India hopes “the Chinese side will work with us to bring a satisfactory resolution to the current issues so as to make progress on our bilateral relations keeping in view each other’s sensitivities, aspirations and interests”.
“We have highlighted that widening deficit and increase in trade barriers are issues of concern. These have been regularly flagged at the highest level, most recently at the 2nd Informal Summit between our Prime Minister and the Chinese President in Chennai in 2019. We also remain firm in our commitment of placing this trade relationship on a more sustainable footing and raising these issues at all appropriate occasions with the Chinese side,” he said.
The Foreign Secretary stressed that the developments since then, including the COVID-19 pandemic, “have not been helpful in our efforts to address these concerns. Furthermore, the developments along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh have seriously disturbed the peace and tranquility in border areas. This has obviously had an impact on the broader relationship too”.
“Even as we continue to pursue these issues with China, we also need to do work at home. That is why, Atmanirbhar Bharat – an India with greater capabilities not just helping itself but being a force for good in the international arena, becomes important,” Shringla said.
Taking reference of China’s ‘digital economy’ model, he said that the Asian country is “a comparable example which has seen similar growth of its digital economy” like India.
“China is also experimenting with concepts like digital currency. Therefore, understanding of ‘Digital China’ can offer valuable insights to our policymakers as well as industry,” he said.
