India's foreign minister S Jaishankar refuted Beijing's assertion that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was "generally stable," which served to highlight India and China's disagreements about the military stalemate in eastern Ladakh.
A day after his bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, Jaishankar said China's stance that everything else could go on while the major issues were not adequately addressed was unacceptable.
In response to questions regarding China's readout of the Jaishankar-Qin meeting, the minister said that Qin had informed Jaishankar that the border situation was stable and that China was prepared to cooperate with India to conduct bilateral consultations in order to "put relations back on the track of sound and stable development."
“I think the word they used is stable. I don’t think that’s the issue. The thing is there’s an abnormal position in the border areas and we had a very frank decision about it,” Jaishankar said.
“We have to take the disengagement process forward. I have made it very clear publicly as well that India-China relations are not normal and cannot be normal if peace and tranquillity in border areas are disturbed. My position remains the same after this meeting,” he added.
Jaishankar said it may be the endeavour of the Chinese to project a certain picture, but India would not play along.
“To suggest somehow the relationship is normal and that everything else can continue while the relevant issues or the central problems are not being effectively addressed… this won’t wash. There are issues we need to discuss and both countries need to be clear about it,” he said.