China has rejected US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between India and China to end their current border standoff.
Trump on Wednesday offered to mediate or arbitrate the raging border dispute between India and China, saying he was ready, willing and able to ease the tensions, amid the continuing standoff between the armies of the two Asian giants.
Reacting for the first time to the US President’s offer, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, the two countries did not want the intervention from a third party to resolve the current military standoff.
“Between China and India we have existing border-related mechanisms and communication channels,” Zhao said.
India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim and strongly refuted Beijing’s contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.
The Ministry of External Affairs said all Indian activities were carried out on its side of the border, asserting that India has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management. At the same time, it said, India was deeply committed to protect its sovereignty and security.
At a time when world is fighting Covid-19, such war like situation is needless. Chinese forces put up tents, dug trenches and moved heavy equipment several kilometres inside what had been regarded by India as its territory.
The move came after India built a road several hundred kilometres long connecting to a high-altitude forward air base which it reactivated in 2008. The message from China appears clear to observers in Delhi – this is not a routine incursion.
It’s time for the two neighbours to wage a spirited war against coronavirus and not between themselves.