Trump calls India-China border situation 'very nasty', offers to mediate

Asserting that the situation along the India-China border has been “very nasty and the Chinese are “going at it” much more strongly, US President Donald Trump said he would love to get involved and help.

“While we’re at it, we’re talking about China and India are going at it pretty good on the border, as you know. It’s been very nasty,” Trump told reporters on Friday (September 4) evening at a White House news conference.

Trump reiterated that he was talking to both India and China about the situation. “And we stand ready to help with respect to China and India. If we can do anything, we would love to get involved and help. And we are talking to both countries about that,” he said.

When asked if China is bullying India, he said that he hoped it is not the case but noted that China is “certainly going at it”. I hope not… But they (China) are certainly going at it. They are going at it much more strongly than a lot of people even understand,” Trump said in response to the question.

This is not the first time Trump has offered to mediate in bilateral issues between India and other countries. The US president had in April offered to intervene in the border dispute between India and China, which the former turned down.

Trump has also offered multiple times to mediate and help alleviate the tensions between India and Pakistan that escalated after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. India, however, politely refused the offer everytime, saying the issue with Jammu and Kashmir was an “internal matter”.

(With inputs from agencies)