The United States wishes Bharat in its efforts to improve strained ties with China, the number-two U.S. diplomat said, while cautioning that Chinese leader Xi Jinping finds it hard to show any flexibility on territorial issues.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said after assuming office for a second straight term that India would look for solutions to border issues with China, that have long strained ties between the neighbours.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who has led U.S. efforts to enhance ties with India to push back against China’s power, was asked at a Washington think tank about EAM Jaishankar’s comments.
Campbell said, ‘I think the truth is that anytime two countries can find a degree of the common space to mitigate tensions, I think we have to support that’.
He further added, ‘I think we wish the Indians well in deliberations before going on to say that Washington was very confident and comfortable about its own bilateral relationship with India and we want that to continue going forward’.
Campbell said he would be in India next week with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, to advance areas of coordination.
‘I think we feel very good about this partnership’, he said, while adding, ‘I think there are some structural issues between China and India that frankly will be difficult to resolve’.
Campbell said he believed that for any improvement in relations with China, India would expect changes in how Beijing treats their contested borders.
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