US President, Donald Trump has again offered to “help” the India-China border issue. He described the situation is between the two neighbors “very nasty”.
Trump said, “While we are at it, we are talking about China and India, they are going at it pretty good on the border, as you know. It has been very nasty. If we can do anything, we would love to get involved and help. And we are talking to both countries about that,” said Trump during a White House briefing. “And we stand ready to help, with respect to China and India”, Trump added.
In response to the question about his campaign’s outreach to Indian American voters, the president said, “we have great support from India. We have great support from Prime Minister Modi and I would think that Indian people would be voting for Trump.”
He referred to the Howdy Modi event in Houston to back his optimism. “We had an event in Houston, as you know, and it was a fantastic event. I was invited by Prime Minister Modi … it was incredible. It was actually incredible and the Prime Minister could not have been more generous.” He expressed confidence that the Indian Americans will vote for him.
Trump had earlier offered to mediate after the bloody clash that broke out at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in June. 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the clash. Calling the situation very tough, Trump said at the time, “We’re talking to India. We’re talking to China. They’ve got a big problem there”.
The second offer comes at a time when tensions have escalated between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. New Delhi has claimed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is making fresh attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo at the LAC. The Indian Army has said that the PLA had been conducting “provocative” actions at the contested area of Pangong Tso, on the intervening night of 29-30 August.
“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,” he had written in a tweet in May. India and China had both declined the offer.
