New Delhi: US President Donald Trump waded into tensions between India and China by offering to “mediate” or “arbitrate” even as Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi Wednesday made conciliatory remarks and said the two countries did not pose any threat to each other.
“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!,” Trump tweeted Wednesday, sending New Delhi into a tizzy.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
This comes a week after the US had said the tensions between New Delhi and Beijing are “a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical”.
Alice G. Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, had said last Wednesday whether it’s in the South China Sea or along the border with India, China continues to show its “disturbing behaviour” that “raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power.”
“And that is why you have seen, I think, a rallying of like minded nations, whether it’s in the whether it’s through ASEAN or through other diplomatic groupings, the trilateral that the United States has with Japan and India, the quadrilateral with Australia, the conversations that are taking place globally, as to how we can reinforce the principles of the post-World War II economic order that supported free and open trade that helped lift all boats, including the Chinese boat,” Wells had said during a media briefing.
Trump’s offer of mediation, something the American President had attempted in the case of New Delhi and Islamabad also last year, comes at a time when Washington and Beijing are fighting tooth and nail on issues concerning bilateral trade and also on the Covid-19 outbreak.
Also read:India to seek ‘amicable solution’ with China amid military build-up on LAC
‘China and India pose no threat to each other’
Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong Wednesday said China and India “pose no threat to each other”.
“We need to see each other’s development in a correct way and enhance strategic mutual trust. We should correctly view our differences and never let the differences shadow the overall situation of bilateral cooperation. At the same time, we should gradually seek understanding through communication and constantly resolve differences,” the ambassador said while addressing the Confederation of Young Leaders (CYL).
From any perspective, Sun said, China and India “should be good neighbours of harmonious coexistence and good partners to move forward hand in hand”.
This comes at a time when security forces of both countries are engaged in a major standoff across several sections of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
He added that the “only right choice” for New Delhi and Beijing right now is to realise that the “dragon and elephant dancing together” will help in achieving fundamental interests of both countries.
The Chinese envoy also lauded the measures taken by the Narendra Modi government to fight the pandemic and its decision to go in for an early lockdown when the cases of coronavirus in India was still less.
“At present, we feel heavy-hearted and empathy while India’s epidemic situation is getting more severe,” he said.
He also said he loves Bollywood movies and through those he finds that many Indians are “optimistic, confident, enthusiastic, passionate, sociable and good at singing and dancing”.
Also read: India and China should lower their border tensions, talk more: Ex-envoy Bambawale