US 'closely monitoring' India-China border situation: State Dept

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The US has said it is closely monitoring the situation regarding the border clashes between India and China and it is glad that at least in December both India and China appeared to have disengaged.

"We are closely monitoring the situation broadly regarding border clashes but we are glad to hear that at least in December both sides (India and China) appeared to have disengaged," US State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday. Patel, while responding to the media query in the regular briefing stated that Washington is relieved that the situation on both sides is calm.

Notably, the Ladakh border clash in 2020 has remained the dominant issue between the two sides. Since April 2020, India and China have also had several rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

Calling the China-India border situation "stable at the moment", Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong recently told Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat that the two sides should stand high and look far, and view bilateral relations from a comprehensive and long-term perspective.

Sun said that as the situation at the border is currently stable, both India and China should implement the important consensus between the leaders of the two nations, and also strengthen communication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said in an official statement.

India has repeatedly said that bilateral relations cannot be normal unless the border situation is and added that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact the relations further.

Speaking further, the US Principal Deputy spokesperson also called India an important ally of the United States in a number of spaces.

He said that India, in a number of domains including trade cooperation, security cooperation and technological cooperation has been a great partner to the US.

The US State Department also condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine and extended sympathies to all those who were hurt.

"As you all saw, Russia launched more missiles across Ukraine last night ...On behalf of US, I want to extend sympathies to all those who are hurt and condolences to the families of those who are killed across Ukraine," Patel said.

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