Mike Pompeo is in New Delhi for the 2 + 2 high-level meeting between the US and India
Beijing:
China today urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “stop sowing discord” between Beijing and the countries of the region, undermining regional peace and stability, amid his visit to India for a high-level dialogue aimed at pushing India-US further. Defense and security ties, and advance strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Pompeo arrived in India on Monday along with Defense Secretary Mark T Esper for the third edition of the 2 + 2 dialogue between the United States and India with his counterparts, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath. Singh.
After his visit to India, Mr. Pompeo will visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
When asked about Mike Pompeo’s visit to India and other South Asian countries during which the top American diplomat would focus on threats from China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a press conference in Beijing that Mike Pompeo’s attacks and accusations against China are nothing new.
“He repeated them over and over again,” Wang said.
“These are baseless accusations that reflect that you are holding on to the Cold War mentality and your ideological biases. We urge you to abandon the Cold War and zero-sum gambling mentality and stop sowing discord between China and the countries regional as well as undermining peace and stability, “said Wang.
His comments came amid India and the United States signing the historic Basic Agreement for Exchange and Cooperation (BECA) that will allow the sharing of high-end military technology, classified satellite data and critical information between the two countries.
The signing of the long-negotiated BECA between the two strategic partners also indicates a further boost from bilateral defense and military ties, and comes in the context of India’s tense border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
In August, Mike Pompeo said that China poses a threat to the West that is in some respects worse than the one posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
“What is happening now is not Cold War 2.0. The challenge of resisting the threat of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is in some ways worse. The CCP is already entangled in our economies, in our politics, in our societies of the same way that the Soviet Union never was, “he had said in a speech to the Czech Senate.
In July, Mike Pompeo criticized China for its aggressive moves against its neighbors, including “instigating” a deadly confrontation with India in eastern Ladakh, saying that Beijing cannot threaten or intimidate countries in the Himalayas.
“The recent clashes started by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are just the latest examples of the unacceptable behavior of the Communist Party of China. It is important that democracies like ours work together, especially as we see more clearly than ever the true scope of the challenge posed by the Communist Party of China, “he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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