China's claims over Arunachal ludicrous, Pak sponsoring terrorism at industry level: Jaishankar

Jaishankar on March 23 termed China's repeated territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh as "ludicrous" and asserted that the northeastern state was a natural part of India. Jaishankar's first reaction to the whole issue came while delivering a lecture at the Institute of South Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore.

Jaishankar, who is here on a three-day visit to Singapore, emphasised that Arunachal Pradesh was a "natural part of India."

"So, I think we've been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place," he said.

Responding to another question, Jaishankar said the challenge for India today is how to find the sustainable equilibrium between two rising powers, who also happen to be neighbours, and who have a history and a population, which sets them apart from the rest of the world and who also have capabilities.

"So this is a very, very complex challenge," he said.

Jaishankar said it came as a "great surprise" to India when the Chinese in 2020 "chose to do something on the border, which was completely violative of agreements we had reached".

The minister was referring to the Eastern Ladakh border standoff, which erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. The Eastern Ladakh standoff has resulted in a virtual freeze of bilateral ties on all fronts except trade. India has been pressing the People's Liberation Army to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok, maintaining that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal.

"Instead of actually solidifying the foundation for an equilibrium, they (the Chinese side) went and disturbed the condition," he said.

Jaishankar said the boundary solution can take its time. "We don't argue with that. It's a very complex issue. We're not talking about solving the boundary dispute. We are talking about maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border," he said.

On Pakistan

Underlining that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism at almost an "industry level", Jaishankar asserted that the mood in India now is not to overlook terrorists and it "will not skirt this problem anymore".

"Every country wants a stable neighbourhood...if nothing else you want at least a quiet neighbourhood," he said in response to a question on India's ties with Pakistan.

However, unfortunately, it is not the same with India, he said.

Underlining that Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism against India, Jaishankar asked, "How do you deal with a neighbour who does not hide the fact that they use terrorism as an instrument of statecraft?" "It's not a one-off happening...but very sustained, almost at an industry level...So what we have come to conclude is that we have to find a way of addressing (the menace), that dodging the problem gets us nowhere, it only invites more trouble," he said.