US President Donald Trump discussed border tensions between India and China at a press conference at the White House (Archive)
The India-China border showdown has been “very unpleasant” and “they (China) are certainly going to do it,” US President Donald Trump told reporters at a White House press conference on Friday. Trump said he had raised this issue with both India and China, and the United States was ready to help.
“Since we are at it, we are talking about China and India, (they) are doing quite well at the border, as you know. It has been very unpleasant,” said Trump, adding: “And we are willing to help, with with respect to China and India “.
“If we can do something, we would love to get involved and help. And we are talking to both countries about that,” he said as well.
The US president’s comments come amid renewed tension between India and China over what the government called new attempts by Beijing to change the status quo in certain areas of eastern Ladakh.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart in Moscow on Friday night on the sidelines of a three-day summit, in the first high-level contact of its kind since the border clash broke out in May.
In a direct message before the meeting, Singh said that peace and security in the region required a climate of trust, non-aggression, peaceful resolution of differences and respect for international rules.
The Indian army said this week that it had blocked Chinese troops in the most serious confrontation since 20 Indian soldiers were killed in June; The violence in Ladakh’s Galwan was the worst between the two countries in decades.
These attempts were made even as the two nations are engaging in diplomatic and military talks, which, so far, have done little to resolve the border dispute.
Tensions on the border are now at some of the highest levels since the 1962 war, with China ordering a significant build-up of tanks and infantry in the Pangong region of southern eastern Ladakh.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is in Moscow to attend a meeting of SCO defense ministers.
India has bolstered its own tank formations in the area and deployed additional forces to shore up the heights it maintains along the disputed Royal Line of Control (LAC) in the region.
There has also been intense air activity throughout LAC, with the Chinese Air Force intensifying the deployment of fighters from Ngari-Gunsa and Hotan air bases in Tibet.
Army Chief General MM Naravane has described the situation throughout LAC as “tense”, but also that it could “be fully resolved through talks.”
Earlier this week, the Chief of Defense General Bipin Rawat said that despite the threat of coordinated action on the northern and western fronts, an allusion to a joint threat from Pakistan and China, the armed forces of India were able to respond in the “best appropriate way”.
This is not the first time that Donald Trump has offered to help mediate the tensions between India and China; In June, after 20 Indian soldiers died for their country, the US president called the border line a “very difficult situation” and said: “We are talking to India. We are talking to China. They have a big problem.” there”.
At the time, the US had accused China of increasing border tension with India and other neighbors by trying to take advantage of the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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