A day after US President Donald Trump offered to mediate between India and China amid escalating border tensions, the UN Secretary-General's spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric clarified that it wasn't up to outsiders to weigh in unless invited to do so.
“That would be for the parties involved to decide who they would want to mediate. It's not for us to opine. We are obviously looking at the situation and we would urge all the parties involved to avoid any action that would make the situation even more tense,” he said on Thursday.
Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General @StephDujarric on @realDonaldTrump's mediation offer between #India and #China has said "not for us to opine" pic.twitter.com/qnsZ7ndDvP
— Aakriti Sharma (@_aakritisharma) May 28, 2020
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to inform India and China about Washington's readiness to mediate their border dispute.
We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
The mediation offer came amid the continuous movement of reinforcements from the two Asian giants to the Ladakh region in past few days. While the Indian Army has reportedly moved additional infantry battalions to Ladakh, China after deploying additional troops to "reclaim authority" over Galwan Valley, pitched 70-80 tents and parked heavy vehicles near the border area.
However, on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said: “The overall situation in the China-India border area is stable and under control, and the two countries are capable of resolving border issues through dialogue and negotiations.”
The deadlock between the south Asian neighbours continues three weeks since a violent clash on the northern banks of Pangong left soldiers from both sides badly injured.
