US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh leave after addressing a joint press briefing in the lawns of Hyderabad House in New Delhi on October 27, 2020. Photo: AFP

The Chinese Embassy in India has urged the US to stop meddling in China-India border issues and rejected anti-China comments made by US Secretary State Michael Pompeo during the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. 

After Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, Pompeo made harsh comments against China, claiming the country is no friend to democracy, the rule of law, transparency or freedom of navigation. 

The Chinese embassy said the US officials repeated old lies, attacked and made allegations against China, violated the norms of international relations and basic principles of diplomacy, and harmed China's relations with other countries in the region, which once again exposed their Cold War mentality and ideological bias. 

Pompeo also paid his condolences to the families of the Indian soldiers who were killed during the recent conflict with China at the border, a gesture aimed at hyping up anti-China sentiment among Indians and support India in its border spat with China.

The Chinese embassy made a strong statement on the US trying to meddle in the border tensions, saying the boundary question is a bilateral matter between China and India. The two sides have been discussing disengagement and de-escalation in the border areas through diplomatic and military channels. 

"China and India have the wisdom and ability to handle their differences properly. There's no space for a third party to intervene."

China resolutely opposes the action of engaging in unilateralism and bullying. By hyping up the so-called "China threat," the US is in fact making up a pretext for maintaining its global hegemony and containing China's development, the Chinese embassy said.

Global Times