PREZ TRUMP offers to mediate on Sino -India border dispute in Ladakh
US President Donald Trump, contesting for another 4-year-term in the White House, has offered to mediate between India and China over what he calls their “now raging border dispute” in Ladakh. The comment refers to a build-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by Indian and Chinese armies following a recent face-off in Ladakh. “We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!,” President Trump tweeted on Wednesday. The standoff was triggered by India’s construction of roads and airstrips in the region as it competes with China’s spreading Belt and Road initiative, Indian observers said on Tuesday. Outspoken very often accused of flouting diplomatic niceties, calls Democratic party’s presidential hopeful against him Joe Biden a Chinese puppet. Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have seen a military build-up by the Indian and Chinese armies escalating tension and hardening of positions by the two nations two weeks after they were engaged in separate face-offs. The nearly 3,500-km-long LAC is the de-facto border between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the military to scale up battle preparedness, visualising worst-case scenarios, and asked his troops to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty. India has made it clear that there is no question of abandoning the infrastructure along the LAC under Chines threat. Top defence chiefs including Bipin Rawat, CDS, and NSA Ajit Doval have updated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Eastern Ladakh situation. The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent faceoff on the evening of May 5. Later the two sides agreed to disengage following meeting between local level Commanders. Diplomat for South and Central Asia Alice Wells on May 20 slammed China, saying the tensions reminded the world of the “threat” posed by Beijing. China retorted saying the remarks as “nonsense”In Delhi, A two-day meeting of senior Army commanders chaired by Army Chief General MM Naravane is underway. The Army Commanders’ Conference will discuss issues related to the security of India’s borders, including recent Chinese aggression in Ladakh. The meetup is being held a day after PM Modi’s high-level discussion on the stand-off with China. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat were among those at that meeting. Indian Army has meanwhile has increased troop deployment at different locations along the Line of Actual Control in the Ladakh sector to match the 5,000 soldiers deployed by China, says ND TV. (edited by PK Chakravarty)
