‘Told China standoff won’t help either of us, third parties will take advantage’: Jaishankar
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Told China standoff won’t help either of us, third parties will take advantage’: Jaishankar")
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaking at the Asia Society event in New York Photograph: (X)
In an address at the Asia Society during the UN General Assembly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pointed to the “improvement in ties” between Beijing and Delhi. He said the improvement was a recovery from a relationship that had gone “so much off-track”.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that a stand-off between India and China “won’t help either of us, and third parties will take advantage of it”, and added that he conveyed the message to Beijing multiple times and at a personal level.
In an address at the Asia Society during the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar pointed to the “improvement in ties” between Beijing and Delhi.
Speaking about India-China relations at the event, Jaishankar said, “If you asked me, compared to where you were in 2025, is the relationship better today? I would say yes. Compared to 2024, even more so.”
“After what happened in 2020 and the long standoff that we had on the border, the relationship had really been impacted. Once the border standoff was resolved, it was natural that this would start to improve... We have long been telling the Chinese, personally at my level, that a standoff between us, a dip in our relationship, doesn’t help either of us. Third parties will take advantage of that. It took a little while for the Chinese side to agree with that, for whatever reason,” the EAM said.
“But I don’t think that long standoff served our interests. It certainly didn’t serve theirs... what we’ve had is that, as the border comes back more towards normalcy, the relationship comes back more towards normalcy... If it happens, it helps both of us,” he added.
Jaishankar said the improvement was a recovery from a relationship that had gone “so much off-track”.
Meanwhile, sources said India is holding talks with China in order to explore the possibility of an alternate air route for Indian airlines amid the continuing Pakistan airspace ban that makes flights to Europe and the United States longer and more expensive.
The talks are focused on the use of Xinjiang airspace as an alternate route.
Sources said the Ministry of External Affairs is engaging with Chinese counterparts on alternate routes and that talks are on for over a year to route flights via Hotan in western China.
Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in New Delhi for the BRICS Summit, China Southern Airlines announced that it will resume direct flights between Guangzhou and New Delhi from September 21, restoring a route that had been suspended for six years.
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The resumption is part of a broader restoration of direct air links between the two countries after services were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent tensions along the India-China border.
