NEW DELHI (INDIA) – The United States condoled with India on Friday over the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers killed in hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops during a clash on the mountainous border earlier this week.
Despite the two governments agreeing they would seek to de-escalate the confrontation in the western Himalayas, tensions remain high.
Following the clash, military officials held discussions, but there is no sign of a breakthrough.
“The situation remains as it was, there is no disengagement, but there is also no further build up of forces,” said a source in the Indian government.
A day after the funerals of some of the soldiers, the public mood toughened in India with growing calls for revenge and a boycott of Chinese-made goods.
With the nation in shock over the loss of its soldiers’ lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces one of the most difficult foreign policy challenges since he came to power in 2014.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a twitter message.
“We will remember the soldiers’ families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve.”
As a non-aligned nation, India has always tried to balance the influence of super-powers, while maintaining an independent course in foreign policy matters.
However, in the past two decades, New Delhi has forged closer political and defence ties with Washington, and the US has become one of India’s top arms suppliers.
In the wake of escalating tensions with China, top former Indian diplomats have called for an even tighter relationship with the United States and its allies such as Japan to face the might of Beijing.
“This is an opportunity for India to align its interests much more strongly and unequivocally with the US as a principal strategic partner and infuse more energy into relations with Japan, Australia and ASEAN,” former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao wrote in The Hindu newspaper.
India has accused the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley of acting in a premeditated manner, attacking Indian soldiers with iron rods and nail-studded batons. Scores of Indian soldiers were injured in the skirmish on Monday evening and India said the Chinese military also suffered casualties.
India and China have been facing off against each other at three locations since early May after New Delhi alleged that Chinese troops intruded into its part of the Line of Actual Control.
China rejects the Indian claims and blamed the clash on Indian soldiers crossing into Chinese territory.
Satellite images, however, suggest, that in the days leading up to the clash, China brought in heavy machinery, cut a trail into a Himalayan mountainside and may have even dammed a river.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field
