China engaged in border war with India, posing threat to neighbours, claims US lawmaker

China is engaged in a border war with India and is posing a serious threat to its neighbours, United States lawmaker John Cornyn claimed before the country’s Senate on Tuesday, according to PTI.

Cornyn, who is the co-chair of the Senate’s India Caucus, made the statement after leading a delegation of the US Congress to India and South-East Asia last week.

“It [China] threatens freedom of navigation in international waters, and it is guilty of gross human rights abuses against its own people, namely the Muslim minority Uyghurs,” the lawmaker said. “It’s engaged in a border war with India and it threatens to invade the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan.”

Cornyn, a Republican leader, said that the delegation met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cabinet officials “to discuss threats posed by China as well as other shared priorities”.

“There is no question that China is a looming presence, but it’s not in our backyard,” he said. “We don’t see its warships on our coastlines or worry about an imminent military invasion on our shores. But that’s not the case in the Indo-Pacific.”

This is not the first time that the United States has criticised China for aggression along the border with India. In February, the country’s Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said that it was concerned about Beijing’s “attempts to intimidate its neighbours”.

In September 2020, the country’s Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun had said that the country will push back against China’s aggressive actions, including territorial claims with India along the border.

In May 2020, Chinese troops clashed with the Indian Army at several points along the Line of Actual Control.

Tensions between India and China escalated further after a violent face-off on June 15, 2020. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the matter.