Joe Biden’s point person for South and Central Asia said Thursday that the US wants the Indo-China border dispute to be settled through negotiations and direct talks between the two countries. He also said that the US sees little evidence that Beijing is taking these talks seriously and with a good attitude.
“We have always taken the same stance on India’s border conflict with China. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu in an interview that the best way to solve the border conflict is through negotiations and direct talks between the two countries.
“That being said, we don’t see much proof that the Chinese government is really trying to be helpful in these talks. The opposite is what we see. “On the line of actual control, we see provocation pretty often,” Lu said in answer to a question.
The top official at the State Department said that India can count on the support of the United States as it meets the challenge of its northern neighbor.
“We showed that we were serious in 2020 during the Galwan crisis, and we will continue to find ways to work with India on information, military equipment, and exercises in the years to come,” he said.
In a study released last month, the Centre for a New American Security, an important American think tank, said that the increased chance of border hostility between India and China has consequences for the United States and its Indo-Pacific strategy.
As the US thinks about India’s role in the Indo-Pacific and how to make the most of US-India cooperation to deal with security problems in the region, the report by Lisa Curtis, who was deputy assistant to the president and NSC senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, and Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst, says that US policymakers must keep a close eye on the border between India and China and be ready to act quickly if there is a border crisis.
The report told the Biden Administration that, to help stop and respond to more Chinese aggression along India’s border with China, the United States should put Indian territorial disputes with China on the same level as Beijing’s aggressiveness against other US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and make sure this is reflected in all national security–related documents and speeches.
“Give India the advanced military technology it needs to protect its borders, and start making and developing military weapons together. “Assist India in improving its maritime and naval capabilities, conduct joint intelligence reviews with India to get a clear picture of Chinese plans and intentions along the LAC, and work more closely with Indian officials to plan for what to do if there is a future conflict between India and China,” it said.
It asked the US to set up or back an official or unofficial organization whose job it would be to collect non-classified commercial satellite pictures of where PLA troops were along the LAC and regularly share these images with the public. Criticize Beijing’s attempts to take over land at the UN, the Shangri-La Dialogue, the G20, and the East Asia Summit.
Send a message to Pakistan, and ask some of Islamabad’s other important friends to help you get the same message across, about how it’s important to stay neutral if there’s a border conflict between India and China in the future. “Be ready to give India your full support if there is another border conflict or crisis,” the think tank said in its report.
