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US House panel chair slams Chinese ‘aggression’ in border dispute with India
Eliot Engel, chairman of the powerful US House foreign relations committee, on Monday, slammed Chinese “aggression” for continuing tensions along the border with India, adding to growing US support for India in this dispute.
Eliot Engel, chairman of the powerful US House foreign relations committee, on Monday, slammed Chinese “aggression” for continuing tensions along the border with India, adding to growing US support for India in this dispute.
“I am extremely concerned by the ongoing Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control on the India-China border.,” Engel, a Democrat, said in a statement. “China is demonstrating once again that it is willing to bully its neighbours rather than resolve conflicts according to international law.”
He added: “I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India.”
The chairman of the committee, which has oversight over the state department, is the latest US official to weigh in on India’s side in this border dispute with China.
Alice Wells, the outgoing head of the state department’s South and Central Asia department, had earlier said the border flare-ups were a “reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical”.
“Whether it’s in the South China Sea or whether it’s along the border with India, we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power,” she had added.
Also on the India-China dispute, President Donald Trump made an unsolicited offer of mediation which has been turned down by both India and China.
