External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said that despite aberrations like the recent stand-off over the Chinese troop incursion in the Eastern Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, both India and China truly see themselves as partners in the regional and global context, both presently and for the future as well.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, Khurshid, who took part in the delegation-level talks between India and China here this morning, said: "The new leadership in China is giving us clean and clear signals to continue with the process of dialogue and regular interaction. It was important that they clearly told us (India) that they thought very specifically about the first trip outside China."
"Essentially, we truly see ourselves as partners. After today's talks, I think the message they wanted to convey is that making India the first port of call, suggests that there is a lot more substance in terms of collaborating and upgrading (our) economic relationship," Khurshid added.
On the Chinese troop incursion in Ladakh, which generated considerable political heat and aggressive eyeball contact between locally deployed army contigents, Khurshid said that the issue was raised during Monday's deliberations, and while both sides had perceptive differences of the incident, it was agreed that both governments would examine why it happened and what steps needed to be taken to prevent it from happening in the future.
"The the incident happened; that was sort of being seen as casting a possible shadow on normalising relations as they have developed over time. Fortunately, it got resolved. We talked about it, looking for a silver lining if something like this happens. It was felt (on both sides) that there was a need to lLet us look at why these things happen, how it can be handled and what lessons we learnt," the External Affairs Minister said during his interview.
Khurshid was candid in admitting that there was a difference of perception, and added that this was but natural, as it has been "50 years since we have accepted there is no clear demarcation (of the Line of Actual Control)".
"In several situations, perceptions vary. These kinds of incidents must and will happen. We have done our best. We have not satisfied everybody. We have and can satisfy reasonable people. We were not talking about the incursion, we were talking about peace and tranquility. There was mention of peace and tranquility. Talking about moving forward and finding solutions that are mutually acceptable," Khurshid said.
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"This was not an adverserial intrusion. We did say the incident should be seen in order to understand why these incidents happen, and how they can be stopped. How we can handle it," he added.
During the course of the interview, Khurshid also dwelled on India's concerns about there being a trade imbalance with China.
He said that China is looking for a second generation trade relationship with India, which is a welcome step.
