US asks India to resist China ‘aggression’ at Himalayan border

Top US diplomat Alice Wells accuses Beijing of employing border clashes with Delhi to try to shift the status quo

Indian and Chinese troops have engaged in a growing number of brawls on their sprawling border, including a recent stand-off at the Nathu La Pass

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Indian soldiers keep vigil at Bumla pass at the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:26am, 21 May 2020Updated: 8:22pm, 21 May 2020

The United States on Wednesday accused China of employing border clashes with India to try to shift the status quo, and encouraged New Delhi to resist.

Alice Wells, the top US diplomat for South Asia, drew parallels between the growing skirmishes in the Himalayas and Beijing’s years of increasing assertiveness in the dispute-rife South China Sea.

“For anyone who was under any illusions that Chinese aggression was only rhetorical, I think they need to speak to India,” Wells told the Atlantic Council think tank.

“If you look to the South China Sea, there’s a method here to Chinese operations, and it is that constant aggression, the constant attempt to shift the norms, to shift what is the status quo.

“It has to be resisted,” said Wells, speaking as she retires from the State Department.

Indian and Chinese troops have engaged in a growing number of brawls and other low-level clashes on their sprawling border, including a recent stand-off at the Nathu La Pass, which connects the Indian state of Sikkim and Chinese-ruled Tibet.

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