India will not agree to any change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto border - with China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday while addressing the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). “We are absolutely clear that we will not agree to any change in the status quo, any attempt to change the LAC unilaterally by one side,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

India has in recent months hardened its stand over the unresolved border issue with China and has squarely blamed Beijing for violating past agreements between the two countries by massing troops at the border and trying to resolve differences by force. 

India and China have had 13 rounds of talks between military commanders focused on disengagement.

As a result of these talks, there has been significant headway in many of the friction points, Jaishankar said, “There are some friction points which still remain to be resolved.”

On February 20, Jaishankar said India's relationship with China is going through a ‘very difficult phase’ and that the ‘state of the border will determine the state of the relationship.’

The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry. The tension escalated following a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020 in which both countries lost a number of soldiers.

(SAM)