New Delhi: India Friday got a “stronger” support from Japan as Tokyo assured New Delhi it would “oppose” any unilateral attempt by China to change the status quo at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), particularly in Ladakh, where a violent face-off took place on 15 June.
The matter was discussed at length during a phone conversation Friday morning between Foreign Secretary Harsh V. Shringla and Satoshi Suzuki, ambassador of Japan to India.
“Had a good talk with FS (foreign secretary) Shringla. Appreciated his briefing on the situation along LAC, including GOI’s policy to pursue peaceful resolution. Japan also hopes for peaceful resolution through dialogues. Japan opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo,” Suzuki said in a tweet after the phone call.
Had a good talk with FS Shringla. Appreciated his briefing on the situation along LAC, including GOI’s policy to pursue peaceful resolution. Japan also hopes for peaceful resolution through dialogues. Japan opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo.
— Satoshi Suzuki (@EOJinIndia) July 3, 2020
New Delhi believes that the support shown by Japan even as troops of India and China remain engaged in a bitter stand-off in eastern Ladakh is much “stronger a line on the LAC issue” taken by Tokyo, a top official told ThePrint.
Japan and India are key strategic partners for each other not just in the Indo-Pacific set up with countries like the US, Australia, France and others, but they are also part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad.
Japan is the second country with which India holds a ‘2+2’ format meeting for security and strategic issues, after the US, between the foreign and defence ministries.
The phone call took place on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the forward locations in Nimu, Ladakh, and interacted with the personnel of Army, Air Force and ITBP. The prime Minister was accompanied by Army Chief M.M. Naravane and Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat.
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Standoff continues
While discussions are going on between New Delhi and Beijing on a regular basis both at the military as well as diplomatic levels in an effort to de-escalate tensions and disengage, the stand-off, which began in early May, still continues.
So far, India has discussed the standoff with some of its strategic partners like the US, Russia, Australia, Germany, France and now Japan.
Earlier this year, India also restricted foreign direct investments coming in from China, and banned 59 Chinese mobile apps this week as the Modi government believes they were engaged in “activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.
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