Coming out in support of India with regard to the ongoing military standoff in Ladakh, the Joe Biden administration on Monday raised concern over china’s aggressive attempts to "intimidate" its neighbours and said that it was closely monitoring the situation.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. We note the ongoing talks between the governments of India and China and continueto support a direct dialogue and a peaceful resolution to border disputes," Emily J Horne, spokesperson, National Security Council (NSC) of the White House told news agency PTI.
"The United States is concerned by Beijing's pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbours," she added
The Biden administration also asserted that the US will stand with its allies to advance its shared values in the strategically-vital Indo-Pacific region.
"We will stand with friends, partners and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security and values in the Indo-Pacific region," she added.
India and China are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last year. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no solution has come out so far. China's increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing aggression in South and EastChina seas.
Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the EastChina Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan.
The South China Sea and the East China Sea are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Although the US lays no claims to the disputed waters, it has challenged China's growing territorial claims in the South China Sea by deploying warships and fighter jets to assert freedom of navigation and overflight patrols in the strategically-vital region.
