As President Donald Trump offered to mediate on the India-China border dispute, he said that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is not in a “good mood” over the “big conflict between the two countries.
He said, “They like me in India. I think they like me in India more than the media likes me in this country. And I like Modi. I like your Prime Minister a lot. He is a great gentleman.”
When asked whether he was worried about the border situation between India and China, he said, “They have a big conflict India and China. Two countries with 1.4 billion people (each). Two countries with very powerful militaries. India is not happy and probably China is not happy. I can tell you; I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He is not in a good mood about what is going on with China.”
Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday that he was, “ready, willing and able to mediate” between the two countries.
India on Wednesday said it was engaged with China to resolve the border row peacefully in reaction to Trump’s offer to mediate. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said, “We are engaged with the Chinese side to peacefully resolve it. The two sides have established mechanisms both at military and diplomatic levels to resolve situations which may arise in border areas peacefully through dialogue and continue to remain engaged through these channels.”
The tweet caught Beijing by surprise and the Chinese Foreign Ministry is yet to release a statement. In the meanwhile, the state-run Global Times released an op-ed saying, “The latest dispute can be solved bilaterally by China and India. The two countries should keep alert on the U.S., which exploits every chance to create waves that jeopardise regional peace and order.”
The situation in Ladakh deteriorated when around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5. It resulted in around 100 soldiers being injured. This was followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on May 9.
