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| Foreign Ministers of China and India meet in New Delhi (25 March 2022) |
The Pentagon said in a report that China warned the United States not to interfere in China’s relations with India after deadly border clashes with India erupted in 2020.
Relations between the two countries have plummeted since the worst border conflict in 40 years, killing 20 Indian and four Chinese, and the two sides have continued to deploy troops in the border area since then, but India’s imports from China have surged.
“PRC officials sought to decentralize the severity of that crisis during the standoff, emphasizing Beijing’s intention to maintain border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of bilateral relations with India,” the Defense Department said in a report released to Congress Tuesday.
“The People’s Republic of China seeks to prevent border tensions from leading to a closer partnership between India and the United States.” PRC officials warned U.S. officials not to interfere in the PRC’s relations with India. ”
U.S. and Indian forces recently conducted high-altitude military exercises in the Himalayas, less than 100 kilometers from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) disputed between China and India. The exercise focused on combat skills in harsh alpine terrain and climatic conditions. At a time of tension between the United States and India and China, the proximity of the exercise site to the Sino-Indian border has raised concerns. pic.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian did not mention the Pentagon report at a regular news conference Wednesday. But he said joint military exercises between the United States and India this month in the state of Uttarakhand, not far from the Chinese border, “are not conducive to trust between China and India.”
Brahma Chellaney, a defense strategic affairs
analyst in New Delhi said China could “advance its interests” by lowering its border military posture and protecting other areas of its relationship with India.
He tweeted, “Ironically, reducing the importance of its aggression has also helped India’s face-saving efforts.”
(This article is based on a Reuters report.)
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