Nagpur: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that he has told his Chinese counterpart that unless they find a solution on the border, they should not expect the relations between the two countries to be normal.

Jaishankar said that China violated the agreement in 2020 and brought troops to the LAC and India has to keep its defence in check.

The EAM was speaking at the Manthan: Townhall meeting in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on Saturday.

"I have explained to my Chinese counterpart that unless you find a solution on the border, if the forces will remain face-to-face and there will be tension, then you should not expect that the rest of the relations will go on in a normal manner; it is impossible," he said, adding, "It's not like you can fight here and also do business with us, you can't do that."

When asked about whether the harsh relations between India and China will affect the overall important relationship between the two countries, he explained that both countries have had some agreements since the war in 1962. However, China violated those agreements.

"In the past years, relations between India and China have not been good or easy. The major reason behind that is that we have had some written agreements with them," he added.

He further underscored that the Indo-China war happened in 1962 and it took us 14 years to send an ambassador over there.

"The war happened in 1962 and it took us 14 years to send an ambassador over there and then it took another 26 years when for the first time, our prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China," he said.

Jaishankar also highlighted that two agreements were signed in 1993 and 1996, followed by prior agreements signed in 2005, 2006, 2012 and 2013.

Further, he emphasised that the outcome of these agreements was clear that neither India nor China can deploy their troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

However, if they plan to do so, they have to inform them before the movement of their troops.

"The outcome of those agreements was that, since our border is not mutually agreed on, neither of our sides can deploy our troops at the border. And they have to inform the other side if there is any movement," he stated.

EAM added that in 2020, China violated the agreement and brought troops to the LAC.

"In 2020, they violated this despite the agreement; they brought larger troops on the Line of Actual Control. During COVID as well, we deployed a larger army over there and moved our military and since then, the armies from both sides have been there against each other," he added.

Emphasising that India did not start this, Jaishankar said that if they brought their troops in front of us, we have to counter them.

"We did not start this, but if their troops are in front of us, then we have to keep our defence in check," he said.

Earlier in September last year, the Defence Ministry approved the procurement of a regiment of 'Pralay' ballistic missiles for the Indian Army for deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Line of Control (LoC), that is, borders with China and Pakistan, respectively.

"This is a major decision for the Indian Army, as the proposal to acquire a regiment of the Pralay ballistic missiles, which can hit targets between 150-500 Km, was cleared by the recent Defence Acquisition Council meeting," defence officials told ANI.

Moreover, in August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in which he highlighted India's concerns at the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with the two leaders agreeing to direct their relevant officials "to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation."

He said PM Modi, in his conversation with the Chinese President, underlined that the maintenance of peace in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of India-China ties.