US President Donald Trump has tweeted an offer to mediate between India and China over what he calls their "now raging border dispute". The comment refers to a build up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by Indian and Chinese armies following a recent face-off in Ladakh.
"We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!," President Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!
President Trump's previous offers to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir were firmly rebuffed by New Delhi, which asserted that there was no role for any third party in bilateral issues.
Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have seen a military build-up by the Indian and Chinese armies, in a sign of escalating tension and hardening of positions by the two nations two weeks after they were engaged in separate face-offs.
The nearly 3,500-km-long LAC is the de-facto border between the two countries.
Yesterday, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the military to scale up battle preparedness, visualising worst-case scenarios, and asked his troops to resolutely defend the country's sovereignty.
Hours later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that China's position on border-related issues was clear and consistent and based on "consensus reached by the two leaders and strictly observing the agreements between the two countries". He was apparently referring to the directions of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their two informal summits, asking the militaries of the two countries to take more confidence-building measures to maintain peace and tranquility along the borders.
"We are committed to safeguarding our territorial sovereignty and security, and safeguarding peace and stability in the border areas. Now the China-India border area situation is overall stable and controllable," said Zhao.
New Delhi has also asserted that it has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management. "Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously," foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at an online media briefing last week.
China's military friction with the US has also been on the rise with the American navy stepping its patrols in the disputed South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Straits. Washington and Beijing have also engaged in a war of words over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.