Trump offers to mediate as India, China eye reset

China climbs down, says situation ‘stable and controllable’

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday waded into the tense border standoff between India and China, saying he was “ready, willing and able to mediate” between the two Asian neighbours, a statement that could irk Beijing more than New Delhi.

Shortly before Trump made his offer through a tweet, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference in Beijing that the situation on the China-India border was “generally stable and controllable.” The sides were communicating through both their frontline military units and their respective embassies to “properly resolve relevant issues through dialogue and consultation,” Zhao said.

China is committed to abiding by agreements signed by the sides and to “maintaining peace and stability in the border area between China and India”, he said.

China’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, made a pitch for putting ties back on an even keel. Without referring to the border standoff, Sun told a webinar that the two sides “pose no threat to each other” and should “never let the differences shadow the overall… bilateral cooperation”. At

the same time, he added, they should seek “understanding through communication and constantly resolve differences”.

There was no official reaction to both developments from Indian officials, but people familiar with developments acknowledged that the two sides were in contact through diplomatic channels in both New Delhi and Beijing to address the situation.

The Indian side has already made it clear that it won’t allow any unilateral alteration of the

status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as it works towards a peaceful resolution of the worst stand-off since the 73-day face-off between border troops at Doklam in 2017.

Trump, who has in the past repeatedly offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir and been rebuffed by New Delhi, said he had informed India and China of his offer. However, this couldn’t be independently confirmed.

“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!” he tweeted.

The US has been closely tracking the latest flare-up on the India-China border, and Trump’s remarks came a week after his administration’s outgoing pointperson for South Asia, Alice Wells, strongly backed the Indian position in the standoff and said such disputes are a “reminder of the threat posed by China”.