New Delhi: A day after the 2+2 ministerial-level dialogue, China on Wednesday snubbed the US for interfering in matters regarding the border issue and said that the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China was “generally stable”.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Delhi called out US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper for violating diplomatic norms by “preaching an outdated Cold War mentality and preaching confrontation and geopolitical games”,
The statement comes a day after Pompeo said that the US “will stand with the people of India as they face threats to their sovereignty and their liberty.”
In a late-night statement on Wednesday, China asserted that it had the wisdom and ability to handle differences with India properly.
“The boundary question is a bilateral matter between China and India. The two sides have been discussing disengagement and de-escalation in the border areas through diplomatic and military channels. There’s no space for a third party to intervene,” the Chinese Embassy released a statement.
“China resolutely opposes behaviour of engaging in unilateralism and bullying. By hyping up the so-called China threat, the US is in fact making pretexts for maintaining its global hegemony and containing China’s development,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Signing the BECA agreement on Tuesday, Pompeo had said the US will provide any support to India to deliver the deterrence.
Notably, India and China have been locked in a seven-month-long standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Both countries have already held seven rounds of high-level military meetings to discuss disengagement and de-escalation, However, they have not reached a consensus yet.