Indo-China conflict: Rajnath Singh meets Chinese counterpart, Trump offers to mediate - the story so far

Indo-China conflict: Rajnath Singh meets Chinese counterpart, Trump offers to mediate - the story so far

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Saturday, September 05, 2020, 05:50 PM IST
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There have been simmering border tensions between India and China in recent months. From the Galwan valley clash to the more recent Chinese attempts to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake on August 29 -- the situation continues to remain grim.

More recently, on Friday night, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had held talks with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Moscow with a focus on easing escalating border tension in eastern Ladakh. They met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

What has been the outcome of the meeting?

The situation however seems to be far from resolved as the Chinese government was reported to have released a statement wherein they blamed India for the entire situation and warned that "China cannot lose an inch of its territory".

The details of the 2 hours and 20 minutes long meeting as given by India's Defence Ministry however are slightly different.

"Raksha Mantri categorically conveyed Indiaโ€™s position on the developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including in the Galwan valley in the Western Sector of the India-China Border Areas in the last few months," the official handle tweeted.

"RM emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, their aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements," added another post.

What has been the international reaction?

While an European-based think tank on Saturday opined that India's quick and tactically sound responses to the Chinese attempts to unilaterally change status quo along the LAC has left China "stuck in a quicksand of its own making that it can neither extricate itself easily from nor remain stuck in for too long", US President Donald Trump has offered to mediate.

"While we're at it, we're talking about China and India are going at it pretty good on the border, as you know. It's been very nasty," Trump told reporters on Friday at a White House news conference. He added that he is talking to both India and China about the situation.

"And we stand ready to help with respect to China and India. If we can do anything, we would love to get involved and help. And we are talking to both countries about that," he said.

What does the Chinese media have to say?

While the Chinese media termed it a positive step, it claimed that in case of a border war, India will have no chance of winning.

"We must remind the Indian side that China's national strength, including its military strength, is much stronger than India's. Although China and India are both great powers, when it comes to the ultimate competition of combat capability, the Indian side will lose. If a border war starts, India will have no chance of winning," read an Global Times editorial. Incidentally, the publication is closely aligned with the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

(With inputs from agencies)

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