China warned US not to interfere in India ties

PENTAGON

NEW DELHI: China warned American officials not to interfere in Beijing’s relations with New Delhi even as the Chinese side sought to prevent border tensions from prompting India to partner more closely with the US, a new Pentagon report has revealed.

The China Military Power Report (CMPR) is an annual assessment by the US Department of Defense of challenges posed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The section on the Indiachina border in this year’s report said PLA sustained the deployment of forces and continued building up infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) throughout 2021.

Since May 2020, India and

China have been locked in a standoff in Ladakh sector of LAC that has taken bilateral relations to their lowest point in almost six decades. Twenty Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed in a brutal clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020 and New Delhi has insisted that the overall relationship cannot be normalised till peace and tranquillity is restored in the border areas.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the US. PRC officials have warned U.S. officials to not interfere with the PRC’S relationship with India,” the report said, noting that India-china negotiations made “minimal progress as both sides resist losing perceived advantages on the border”.