Updated: October 11, 2020 5:19:28 am
S Jaishankar with Michael R Pompeo in Tokyo. (PTI / File)
In setting the tone for US Undersecretary of State Stephen Biegun’s visit to India starting Monday, two top US administration officials have criticized Beijing, invoking its current standoff with India. US national security adviser Robert O’Brien has pointed to the “territorial aggression” of the Communist Party of China (CCP) on the border with India and US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo has said that China has assembled 60,000 soldiers on the northern border of India.
Biegun’s visit is expected to set the stage for the Indo-US meeting. 2 + 2 between Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on the Indian side and Pompeo and US Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper later this month.
Pompeo and Esper, according to the plan, are likely to travel to India for a meeting “in person” with their Indian counterparts and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 26-27, sources told The Sunday Express.
The two sides are eager to wrap up the ministerial meeting ahead of the November 3 US presidential election, as an exercise in consolidating the efforts of the past four years.
Earlier this week in Utah, O’Brien said China has attempted to “seize” control of the Royal Line of Control (LAC) with India by force as part of its territorial aggression, noting that the time has come to accept that mere dialogue and the agreements will not persuade Beijing to change.
Read | Posters near the Chinese embassy in Delhi on National Taiwan Day trigger a war of words between Beijing and Taipei
By the way, it was O’Brien, according to Bob Woodward’s latest book, who warned Trump about the Covid-19 pandemic at a Jan. 28 meeting saying the virus “will be the biggest national security threat he faces in the world.” his presidency. “
O’Brien, who has been in contact with the NSA Ajit Doval after the clashes in Galwan on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed, said earlier this week: “The territorial aggression of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is also evident on its border with India, where China has tried to take control of the Royal Line of Control by force.
“The time has come to accept that dialogue and agreements will not persuade or force the People’s Republic of China to change. There is nothing to be gained by looking away or turning the other cheek. We’ve been doing that for too long, ”he said.
He added that Reliance’s Jio had banned the use of Huawei equipment, as an example of the international community’s rejection of Beijing.
“Operators like Jio in India, Telstra in Australia, SK and KT in South Korea, NTT in Japan and others have banned the use of Huawei equipment on their networks. The Trump administration is aggressively investigating and prosecuting economic espionage, ”he said.
O’Brien said the Trump administration has strengthened its military relations in the Indo-Pacific.
Meanwhile, Pompeo, who met Jaishankar in Tokyo earlier this week for the Quad meeting, also criticized Beijing for its “bad behavior” and the threats it poses to Quad countries: the US, Japan. , India and Australia.
“The Indians are seeing 60,000 Chinese soldiers on their northern border, Pompeo said in a television interview on Friday after his return from Tokyo.
“They see, the people of their nations (Quad) understanding that we all slept in this for a long time. For decades, the West allowed the Communist Party of China to trample us down. The previous administration got down on its knees, too often allowing China to steal our intellectual property and the millions of jobs that accompanied it. They also see that in their country, ”he said.
In another interview, Pompeo said: “They absolutely need the United States to be their ally and partner in this fight … be it the Indians, who are actually having a physical confrontation with the Chinese in the Himalayas … the Chinese have now started amassing huge forces against India in the north. “
“Look, they have stacked 60,000 soldiers against the Indians in the north. When Australians had the audacity to call for an investigation of the Wuhan virus and where it started, something we know a lot about, the Chinese Communist Party threatened them. They harassed them, “Pompeo told Fox News.
As the border confrontation between India and China continues, India and the US have stepped up off-the-radar military and intelligence collaboration and cooperation to an unprecedented level, especially since the Galwan incident.
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