Washington: China is engaged in a “border war” with India and is posing a grave threat to its neighbors, top Republican lawmaker John Cornyn has told the US Senate, giving details of his visit to New Delhi and Southeast Asia to understand the challenges faced by countries in the region.
Senator John Cornyn, who is also the India Caucus Co-Chair, and his Congressional colleagues have just returned from a visit to India and Southeast Asia wherein they had a first-hand experience of the challenges being posed by China.
“The most urgent and grave threats are against countries closer to China’s borders,” Cornyn told members of the Senate.
“Last week, I had the chance to lead a congressional delegation visiting Southeast Asia to gain a better understanding of the threats and challenges in the region,” he said.
“It (China) threatens freedom of navigation in international waters, and it’s guilty of gross human rights abuses against its own people, namely the Muslim minority Uyghurs. It’s engaged in a border war with India and it threatens to invade the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan,” Cornyn said.
The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.
India and China failed to make any headway at their 13th round of military talks on October 10 in resolving the standoff in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
