US Foreign Affairs Committee criticises Chinese intrusion in Indian Territory

Elliot Engel, chief of the United States House of Representatives of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, on Monday said that he was “extremely concerned” by the Chinese aggression against India along the road of Actual Control in Ladakh and urged Beijing to “respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions”.

“I am extremely concerned by the continued Chinese aggression along the road of Actual Control on the India-China border. China is demonstrating once more that it’s willing to bully its neighbours instead of resolve conflicts consistent with law of nations,” Mr Engel, a Democrat, said.

“Countries must all abide by an equivalent set of rules in order that we do not sleep in a world where ‘might makes right.’ I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India,” he added.

Indian and Chinese troops are facing off along the de-facto border in Ladakh since early May, after Chinese troops intruded into Indian territory, Indian military officials say. each side have dug in defences and brought equipment in recent days.

India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the road of Actual Control or LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, and strongly refuted Beijing’s contention that the escalating tension between the 2 armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.

The standoff is that the most serious since India and China, who fought a quick war in 1962, were locked during a similar faceoff in Doklam, within the eastern Himalayas, that lasted nearly three months in 2017.

Despite talks cover 20 years, the 2 countries haven’t been ready to settle their 3,500-km border and claim to large tracts of remote territory in each other’s possession.

China’s military friction with the US has also been on the increase with the American navy stepping its patrols within the disputed South China Sea also because the Taiwan Straits. Washington and Beijing also are engaged during a war of words over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, both India and China have rejected US intervention in their disputes including a suggestion from US President Donald Trump himself. Sidestepping Mr Trump’s offer to mediate, India said it’s in talks with China to affect the military standoff.