UN Chief Urges Restraint By India, China, As Trump Offers To Mediate Their Dispute

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th May, 2020 ) :UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday adopted a hands-off approach towards US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate an ongoing border dispute between China and India, but he urged both sides to avoid any action that would heighten tensions.

Asked about Trump's surprise move which came in a tweet on Wednesday, Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief's spokesman, said it was up to Beijing and New Delhi to decide whom they want to help them resolve their dispute.

"This is not for us to opine," the spokesman said in response to a question at a virtual news briefing in New York.

He, however, added, "We are obviously looking at the situation and we would urge all the parties involved to avoid any action that would make the situation more tense".

In his tweet, Trump said that the White House has "informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute." While the US has offered to mediate the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan on a number of occasions in the past, this is the first time that Washington has offered to be the third party between India and China.

Trump's latest offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute was rebuffed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Neither New Delhi or Beijing responded to Trump's offer immediately. But the presidential tweet has put a spotlight on the growing tensions in the sparsely populated Ladakh region, and other remote Himalayan areas, where India and China are engaged in a deepening strategic contest over their undemarcated border region.

In early May, border patrols from the two countries confronted each other along the banks of Ladakh's Pangong Lake, a site where there have been previous confrontations. A few days later, Indian and Chinese patrols engaged in a serious brawl at Naku La in Sikkim, a violent clash that left several troops from both sides injured. Following these confrontations, Beijing accused Indian patrols of incursions into Chinese territory.

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