US backs India over border tension with China, calls Beijing behaviour provocative and disturbing

The US on Wednesday supported India amidst the rising border stress with China with a senior diplomat describing Beijing’s aggression as “not always rhetorical” and accusing it of constant with its “provocative and disturbing behaviour”.

Military sources in New Delhi stated that Indian and Chinese armies have rushed in further troops in areas round Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley in Ladakh, signalling to harden of their aggressive posturing two weeks after they have been engaged in a fierce face-off.

The sources stated the Chinese troops considerably elevated their presence in areas round Pangong Tso and even introduced in further boats to the lake. The two sides even have introduced in additional troops to areas like Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie.

“The flare-ups on the border, I think are a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it’s on the South China Sea or whether it’s along the border with India we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power,” Alice G Wells, the outgoing head of the South and Central Asia bureau within the US State Department, advised reporters in a convention name.

She was responding to a query on the current flare-up on the India-China border.

Wells retires from the State Department later this month after having headed the essential South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department for 3 years within the Trump administration.

She additionally talked about China’s aggressive behaviour within the strategic South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in each the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has constructed up and militarised lots of the islands and reefs it controls within the area. Both areas are said to be wealthy in minerals, oil and different pure sources and are additionally important to international commerce.

“And that is why you have seen a rallying of like-minded nations or whether it’s .. through ASEAN or 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 has supported free and open trade that help lift all boats, including the Chinese boat,” Wells stated.

“What we want to see is an international system that provides benefit to everyone and not a system in which there is a suzerainty to China. I think in this instance, the border disputes are a reminder of the threat posed by China,” the highest American diplomat stated.

On May 5, round 250 Indian and Chinese military personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting within the Pangong Tso lake space during which troopers on each side sustained accidents.

In a separate incident, practically 150 Indian and Chinese navy personnel have been engaged in a face-off close to Naku La Pass within the Sikkim sector on May 9. At least 10 troopers from each side sustained accidents within the incident, based on sources.

The troops of India and China have been engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a warfare between the 2 nuclear-armed neighbours.

The India-China border dispute covers the three,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border between the 2 international locations.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as a part of southern Tibet whereas India contests it.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the ultimate decision of the boundary difficulty, it’s obligatory to take care of peace and tranquillity within the border areas.