India-China disengagement a positive development, but challenge of de-escalation remains: EAM

Canberra: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the India-China disengagement process is a positive development, but the two sides have other challenges to address, including that of de-escalation.

Answering a question at a press conference in Canberra, alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, he said that India and China had “on October 21 concluded the last lot of disengagement agreements. We’ve done some earlier, these are currently in the process of being implemented”.

He said the last agreement was primarily around patrolling rights of the two sides.

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“So, we think all in all it’s a positive development; once it’s done the disengagement process is completed.

“We have other challenges to address including de-escalation of process.”

He said at the Kazan meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, it was agreed that the foreign ministers and NSAs of the two sides would meet, “so we will have to look at further building on this”, he added.

Earlier, speaking on the India-Australia bilateral engagement, he said today’s meeting with FM Wong for the Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue in Canberra was their third such dialogue and they would be meeting regularly.

“We are Comprehensive Strategic Partners and very important Quad partners. And in bilateral relations and beyond we have a good story to tell,” he added.

He said the two sides have started the annual summit practice. The ECTA has yielded results, he said, referring to the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), an interim trade agreement that came into effect on December 29, 2022.

The agreement covers most goods traded between the two countries. He said the two sides are negotiating the way to the CECA – Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, to build on the outcomes of the ECTA.

EAM said the bilateral trade is at record levels, and stands at AUD 48 billion, and the two sides have opened more consulates, with an Australian one at Bengaluru and the Indian one at Brisbane, which he inaugurated yesterday.

He said Australian universities have opened establishments in India, with two having done so, and the visit of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was in that context.

On the defence partnership, the Australian Air Force was present at Tarang Shakti, the international air exercise hosted by India. The two sides are also doing the Raisina Dialogue Down Under, and hoped it would be a regular one.

EAM said he was in Brisbane yesterday for opening the Indian consulate, and was able to visit the HADR warehouse department, and expressed hope it can become a platform for further cooperation both bilaterally and with Quad.

He said he will be in Sydney tomorrow and hoped to do some business meetings there.

“Bilaterally it’s a strong report card,” EAM said, adding that they also discussed global issues, with discussions on their respective neighbourhoods, and the global situation, on Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

“All in all, the practice of meeting regularly has shown how useful these are,” he added.