Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar who is currently in France met with his counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and discussed the Ukraine crisis with him. Both ministers agreed that to defuse the situation both nations will abide by the principles of multilateralism and a rules-based order.
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Under the initiative of the French Presidency of the European Council, S Jaishankar will attend the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific as China plans to dominate the region with its aggressive stance.
“Held wide-ranging and productive talks with (French foreign minister) Jean-Yves Le Drian. Discussions on bilateral cooperation, Ukraine situation,Indo-Pacific and JCPOA reflected our deep trust and global partnership,” Jaishankar tweeted after his meeting.
Jaishankar earlier also highlighted the issue regarding Chinese aggression, highlighting to European counterparts the threat India’s neighbour poses, especially at a time when the security situation in Europe remains in a precarious state given the situation between Russia and Ukraine.
“The problem is that for 45 years there was peace, there was stable border management, and there were no military casualties on the border from 1975. That changed because we had agreements with China not to bring military forces to the… we call it the border but it is the Line of Actual Control, and the Chinese violated those agreements. The state of the border will determine the state of the relationship, that’s natural,” Jaishankar said during a panel discussion during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2022 held earlier last week in Germany.
Jaishankar also highlighted that European Union’s (EU) interest in the developments related to Indo-Pacific is fairly new given that tensions emanating from Chinese aggression in the region have been going on for well over a decade.
Jaishankar’s visit to France and attending the MSC 2022 also is aimed at ensuring that European powers like Germany, France and other nations along with the UK also keep an eye on the developments in the Indo-Pacific despite a crisis looming next door. Earlier in a meeting in Australia, the UK highlighted that Russia’s moves in Ukraine could embolden China to make similar moves in its immediate neighbourhood.
The European Union (EU) relationship with China became strained after Beijing was irked with Lithuania allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital Vilnius. The EU which has extensive trade ties with China also questioned Beijing over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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