An Indian Army truck crosses Chang la pass near Pangong Lake in Ladakh region. Indian and Chinese soldiers are in a bitter stand-off in the remote and picturesque region, amassing soldiers and machinery near the tense frontier. Photo: AP
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https://scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3086686/india-denies-trumps-claim-he-spoke-modi-about-border-tensions South Asia
India denies Trump’s claim that he spoke to Modi about border tensions with China
- US President Donald Trump said he had a phone conversation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – but India said no such call took place
- Trump offered to mediate in India’s border stand-off with China, but New Delhi said it was in touch with Beijing using diplomatic channels
US President Donald Trump told reporters he had spoken to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the border stand-off with China, but India says no such conversation took place. Photo: Bloomberg
Did US President Donald Trump speak with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone to discuss the South Asian nation’s border tensions with China?
Trump, who reiterated his offer to mediate between New Delhi and Beijing over the rising temperatures at their border, told a reporter in Washington on Thursday that he spoke to Modi. The Indian government says no such conversation took place.
“But I can tell you, I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He’s not – he’s not in a good mood about what’s going on with China,” Trump said of his chat with the Indian leader.
When asked for details of the phone call, India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday that Modi has not spoken to the US president since April 4 when the leaders discussed shipping hydroxychloroquine from India.
There has been no conversation around the recent border stand-off with China, and New Delhi was directly in touch with the Chinese government through established mechanisms and diplomatic contacts, the foreign ministry said.
On Friday, China’s foreign ministry said there was no need for a third party to mediate.
It’s not the first time India has denied contact between the two leaders.
In July, Trump said Modi had asked him to intervene in India and Pakistan’s decades-long dispute over Kashmir. Again, India denied any such conversation took place.
India and China are locked in a border stand-off, after several rounds of talks failed to ease tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Officials in the Indian establishment said there was no change in the ground positions of troops on Friday.
Additional reporting by SCMP’s Asia desk and Reuters