JUNE 17, 2020
The White House on Wednesday said there were “no formal plans” when asked if United States President Donald Trump would mediate between India and China on the border issue.
“There are no formal plans on that,” said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany when asked about the mediation.
While condoling the loss of lives of 20 Indian soldiers at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, McEnany said Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed on June 2 the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The violent clashes on Monday night, which left at least 20 soldiers of the Indian Army dead, is the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La in 1967 when India lost around 80 soldiers while more than 300 Chinese army personnel were killed.
Trump last month had offered to “mediate or arbitrate” the raging border dispute between the two Asian neighbours, saying he was “ready, willing and able” to ease the tensions.
Both India and China had turned down Trump’s offer.
While India had said it was already engaged with Beijing to “resolve this issue”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian had said the two countries did not want the “intervention” from a third party to resolve the military standoff.
“Between China and India we have existing border-related mechanisms and communication channels”, Zhao told a media briefing here when asked about Trump’s offer.
“We are capable of properly resolving the issues between us through dialogue and consultation. We do not need the intervention of the third party”, he said.
Last year, Trump had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan over their Kashmir dispute, but it was rejected by India.
Courtesy/Source: News18
