Little evidence China is approaching India talks with a sense of goodwill: US

Washington: Reiterating that the United States supports a resolution of the Indo-China border dispute through a negotiated settlement and direct conversations between the two countries, Biden Administration’s point person for South and Central Asia on Thursday said the US sees little evidence that Beijing is seriously approaching these talks with a sense of goodwill.
“Our position on India’s border dispute with China is long-standing. We support a resolution of that border dispute through a negotiated settlement and through direct conversations between the two countries,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told PTI in an interview.
“Having said that, we see little evidence that the Chinese government is seriously approaching these talks with a sense of goodwill. What we see is the opposite. We see provocations that happen on the line of actual control on a pretty regular basis,” Lu said in response to a question.
India, the senior State Department official said, can count on the United States’ standing with India as it faces the challenge of its northern neighbour.
“We demonstrated that resolve in 2020 during the Galwan crisis, and we continue to find opportunities to cooperate with India on information but also on military equipment, exercises and that will go forward into the years ahead,” he said.
A top American think-tank Centre for a New American Security in a report last month said the increased prospect of India-China border hostility has implications for the United States and its Indo-Pacific strategy.