“Never Considered India-China Were On Verge Of War”: US Secretary Of Defence

New Delhi:

The US at no level believed that India and China have been on the verge of a warfare, visiting US Secretary of Secretary of Defence Common Lloyd Austin stated right here right this moment referring to the months-long face-off that the Indian and Chinese language armies have been engaged in final 12 months.

“We now have by no means thought-about India and China have been on the verge of a warfare,” Mr Austin stated at a press convention in New Delhi. He was responding to a question on whether or not there was ever a time previously 12 months when the US believed that warfare between India and China was imminent.

Mr Austin is in India as a part of a three-nation tour, the primary because the Joe Biden administration took cost earlier this 12 months. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nationwide Safety Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday and met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh right this moment.

For the higher a part of final 12 months, the Indian and Chinese language armies had been engaged in a violent standoff alongside the Line of Precise Management in Ladakh with some 20 Indian troopers and no less than 5 on the Chinese language aspect dying within the skirmish.

The incident marked probably the most critical army battle between the 2 sides in a long time, with each side hoarding their troops alongside the LAC for months collectively.

The 2 sides later agreed to “fully disengage” from the flashpoint and guarantee a phased and stepwise de-escalation within the India-China border areas.

China’s aggression on the border in Ladakh is believed to be triggered by India constructing new roads and different infrastructure within the area. Given the build-up of infrastructure on the Chinese language aspect, together with in areas such Galwan, the place they’ve constructed up roads and broadened the valley, there’s a fear that China will be capable of surge troops into areas that they’ve now vacated.