Global support for India grows
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Japan also hopes for peaceful resolution .... Japan opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo SATOSHI SUZUKI, Japanese ambassador
NEW DELHI: Japan joined a list of countries that backed India in its stand-off with China in the wake of behind-the-scenes efforts by New Delhi to drum up support for its position opposing unilateral changes to the Line of Actual control (LAC). Here’s a list:
THE US
The White House on Wednesday blamed Chinese “aggression” for the confrontation. Quoting President Donald Trump at a briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “China’s aggressive stance along the IndiaChina border fits with a larger a pattern of Chinese aggression in other parts of the world and these actions only confirm the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” The US welcomed India’s ban on Chinese apps, with secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying these apps “serve as appendages of the CCP’s surveillance state”.
FRANCE
French defence minister Florence Parly conveyed “steadfast and friendly support” to her Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in a letter, in which she also expressed “deep solidarity” over the death of 20 Indian solto diers on June 15. “In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces,” Parly wrote, adding she was ready to meet Singh in India to follow up on their discussions. The move comes at a time when the French Navy is looking at ramping up joint exercises and patrols with the Indian Navy.
JAPAN
Japan on Friday backed India in the stand-off, saying it opposes any “unilateral attempt to change the status quo” on the LAC. Japanese ambassador Satoshi Suzuki tweeted about his country’s support following a conversation with Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla. “Japan also hopes for peaceful resolution through dialogues. Japan opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo,” he said. The move was akin Japan’s support to India during the 2017 Doklam stand-off with China. It came at a time when Japan is engaged in a row with China over Chinese vessels intruding into its territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands.
AUSTRALIA
Prime Minister Scott Morrison referred to the India-China standoff when he launched Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update and 2024 Structure Plan on Wednesday. “Tensions over territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region, as we have seen recently on the disputed border between India and China, and the South China Sea, and the East China Sea,” he said.
The Indo-Pacific area is the epicentre of strategic competition and the risk of miscalculation and even conflict is growing, he said. Morrison said it wouldn’t just be China and the US that will determine whether the region “stays on path for free and open trade, investment and cooperation”, but India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam too have parts to play.
ASEAN
Though members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have been silent on the
India-China standoff, the leaders of the 10 states in grouping recently rejected China’s claim to almost the whole of the South China Sea. They said the 1982 UN oceans treaty should be the basis of sovereign rights and entitlements in the disputed waters.
The leaders took the position in a statement issued by Vietnam on behalf of the bloc on Saturday. “We reaffirmed that the 1982 UNCLOS is the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones,” the statement said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines rights of nations to the oceans.
THE UK
Britain, which is having its own problems with China over a tough new security law for Hong Kong, said in reference to the India-China stand-off that “violence is in no one’s interest”. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said China had committed a “clear and serious breach” of the agreement under which Hong Kong was handed over to Chinese authorities. Earlier, a British high commission spokesperson said, “We encourage China and India to engage in dialogue... violence is in no one’s interest.”