The United States hopes for a peaceful resolution to the clashes between India and China on the disputed Himalayan mountain border, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. “We are hoping for a peaceful resolution of the situation on the India-China border,” he was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
“More missile tests were done in China last year than all western nations combined. If you’re going to be serious, you’ve to use those in a way that is consistent with how nations undertake obligations under nuclear proliferation treaties,” Pompeo said. Pompeo’s statement comes when leaders from China and India are about to meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at Moscow, which experts say is a positive sign amidst recent flare-ups.
In the latest clash between Indian and Chinese troops, a soldier of Tibetan origin with India's special forces has reportedly been killed on Saturday. This has fuelled concerns of a wider military confrontation between the two regional powers. Tensions between the two nations began in May when a clash between the two forces at Galwan left 20 Indian soldiers dead. India and China have been accusing each other for decades of trying to cross their unofficial frontier in the Ladakh region in an attempt to gain territory.
Pompeo said China had a pattern of ‘bullying’ its neighbours, which was evident with it claiming territory on the South China Sea. He added that Washington was calling on China to engage in talks with the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism Dalai Lama.
While China’s People’s Liberation Army on Saturday said that India was “seriously violating China's territorial sovereignty» with its operation on Monday and demanded that Indian troops withdraw”; India's defence ministry had said that Chinese troops “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” at the border.
Following this, as per a PTI report, the Indian Army has further bolstered its presence in at least three strategic heights in the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh. At the nearly two-hour-long meeting, between military heads of both sides, the Chinese side conveyed its objection to India occupying certain strategic heights in the region, sources said.
But, the Indian delegation maintained that the heights are on the Indian side of the LAC, the sources added. “The situation in the area remained sensitive,” said a source, adding India has significantly ramped up overall surveillance in the region. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying alleged that the responsibility for the border tensions lies entirely with the Indian side.
“The responsibility lies entirely with the Indian side. China has exercised great restraint to avoid escalation,” Hua claimed at a media briefing in response to questions on the Sino-India border situation.
— With inputs from PTI
