US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Tuesday offered his support to India as he mentioned the killing of Indian Army soldiers in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley after a clash with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in June this year.
“We visited the National War Memorial to honour brave men and women of Indian armed forces who sacrificed for the world’s largest democracy, including 20 killed by PLA in Galwan Valley. The US will stand with India as they confront threats to their sovereignty, liberty,” Pompeo said while issuing a joint statement after the 2+2 India-US Ministerial Dialogue.
Cornering China, Pompeo said, “The US and India are taking steps to strengthen our cooperation against all manner of threats and not just those posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Last year, we have expanded our cooperation on cyber issues, our navies have held joint exercises in the Indian Ocean.”
Pompeo accused China’s ruling party of not following the rule of law and transparency. “Our leaders and citizens see with increasing clarity that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is no friend to democracy, rule of law, transparency… I’m glad to say India and the US are taking all steps to strengthen cooperation against all threats and not just those posed by CCP.”