Washington: Top Republican lawmaker John Cornyn has told the US Senate that China is engaged in a “border war” with India and is posing a grave threat to its neighbours. Cornyn gave details of his New Delhi and Southeast Asia visit to understand the challenges faced by countries in the region.
India Caucus Co-Chair, Senator John Cornyn and his Congressional colleagues are back from a visit to India and Southeast Asia.
“The most urgent and grave threats are against countries closer to China’s borders,” Cornyn told Senate members on Tuesday.
“Last week, I had the chance to lead a congressional delegation visiting Southeast Asia to gain a better understanding of the threats and challenges in the region,” Cornyn was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“It (China) threatens freedom of navigation in international waters, and it’s guilty of gross human rights abuses against its own people, namely the Muslim minority Uyghurs. It’s engaged in a border war with India and it threatens to invade the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan,” he said.
Cornyn said that they travelled to India where “we met with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Cabinet officials to discuss threats posed by China as well as other shared priorities.”
India’s border standoff with China erupted on May 5, 2020, after a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Since then, both sides gradually enhanced deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers along with heavy weaponry.
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