NEW DELHI 

Bilateral relations with China can be better only if Beijing “respects” the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said on Monday.

He was referring to a 3,500-kilometer (2,174-mile) de facto border between India and China in Ladakh area of disputed Jammu and Kashmir.

“Right now, I have to be honest, our relations with China are not doing very well,” Jaishankar told reporters in Japanese capital Tokyo, where he attended the Quad foreign affairs meet.

The world's most populated nations have been engaged in a border tussle in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

At least 24 soldiers, including 20 from the Indian side, died in hand-to-hand fighting that year.

Recalling the moments during the COVID-19 which spiraled down the bilateral relations, Jaishankar said: “China brought very large forces to the border areas, between India and China in violation of agreements that we had with China.”

It triggered tensions and led to a clash in which people died on both sides, he said.

“The consequences of that because the issue has not been fully resolved … the relationship right now with China is not good, not normal,” said the Indian foreign minister.

“But, as a neighbor, we hope for a better relationship, but that can only happen if they respect the LAC and if they respect agreements which they have signed in the past,” said Jaishankar.

Last week, Jaishankar met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos, where the duo noted that stabilizing bilateral ties were in their mutual interest.

While Beijing said the two sides “agreed to work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” it added that the Chinese and Indian sides would “promote new progress in border affairs consultations.”

However, Jaishankar said after his Laos meeting that “the state of the border (LAC) will necessarily be reflected on the state of our ties.”

Ladakh is separately administered since India removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.