New Delhi (NVI): Speaking on the ongoing India-China border tensions, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said that the Chinese took incredibly aggressive actions on LAC and the Indians have done their best to respond to that.
While addressing a daily briefing, Pompeo said that he has spoken with his Indian counterpart, Dr S Jaishankar, about the border tensions several times.
Pompeo was responding to questions about the Chinese intrusion into Indian territories in eastern Ladakh.
He further added, “I put all this in the context of (Chinese) General Secretary Xi Jinping and his behavior throughout the region, and indeed, throughout the world,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s possible to look at that particular instance of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aggression in isolation. I think you need to put it in the larger context,” Pompeo said.
He further stated that there weren’t many neighbouring countries of China that could satisfactorily say that they knew where their sovereignty ended and the Chinese Communist Party would respect that. “That is certainly true now for people of Bhutan as well. The world must come together to respond to this,” the US Secretary of State said.
The Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in an eight-week standoff in several areas in eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring.
The situation deteriorated last month following the Galwan Valley clashes that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC.
However on Monday, the Chinese military began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held lengthy talks about the issue.
-RJV/CHK
