US Prez's mediation offer in stand-off with China not needed, says former Army Deputy Chief

Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh (retd) on Thursday said that US President Donald Trump's mediation to resolve the border dispute between India and China is not needed at the moment.

New Delhi : US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate in the "raging border dispute" between India and China is not the need at the moment, a defence expert said on Thursday.

Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh (retd) said that the US President has made the offer to both India and China.

"This offer, which is there from President Trump, definitely not the need at the moment but it's an offer from his side and he has offered to both India and China equal terms that he has given out. I think we should see only from that perspective," Singh said.

He also added, there has been "prudent, positive and good wind" from the Foreign Ministry of China and also "good words" from the Ambassador of China in India Sun Weidong.

Amid the stand-off between India and China in Ladakh region, Trump had on Wednesday said that US is "ready" and "willing" to mediate in the "raging border dispute" between India and China. It is the first time he made such remarks.

"We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!" Trump said in a tweet.

Troops of India and China are in a stand-off in Eastern Ladakh with New Delhi stating that the Chinese side has recently undertaken activity hindering India's normal patrolling patterns. There was also a tense face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in north Sikkim earlier this month.

Defence expert Rameshwar Rai said statements have been issued since yesterday including by the Ambassador of China in India as regards the reconciliation on the situation that has developed in Eastern Ladakh since the beginning of this month.

"I would like to put a word of caution here that let us not read too much into these diplomatic statements."

"This is typical of the Chinese to carry out an action and immediately after that when they see the situation escalating, they issue such diplomatic statements regarding the issues to be resolved across the table. Going by the fact that 22 rounds of border talks in as many years have not resulted in anything, these diplomatic statements need not be believed at its face value," he said.

Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong had on Wednesday said that India and China pose no threat to each other and should resolve their differences through communication while not allowing them to overshadow bilateral relations.

The envoy noted that China and India offer mutual opportunities. He also called for increasing strategic mutual trust. "We should never let differences overshadow our relations. We should resolve differences through communication," Sun said.

ANI report