Trump Offers 'Help' To End India-China Border Skirmishes

(MENAFN- IANS) Washington, Feb 14 (IANS) US President Donald trump on Thursday seemingly offered to mediate an end to the border skirmishes between India and China, saying they were "quite violent" and he said he hoped the two countries as well as the US and Russia, arch-rivals for decades "can get along".

Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a wide variety of issues in a joint news briefing following their talks, from trade differences and agreements to defence and ongoing international conflicts chief the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Prime Minister offered a new slogan for the bilateral relationship, MEGA, a phonetic amalgamation of President Trump's political slogan MAGA, which is short for "Make America Great Again" and an Indian version of it MIGA, short for "Make India Great Again". It will be a "mega partnership for prosperity, and it is this mega Spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives".

"I look at India, I do see the skirmishes on the border, which are quite vicious, and I guess they continue to go on," he said in response to a question.

"If I could be of help, I'd love to help, because that should be stopped. That's been going on for a long time, and it's quite violent. It's quite violent."

"I would hope," he went on to say, "China and India and Russia and us and all of us can get along. It's very important. You know, the power of weaponry today is and not only nuclear but nuclear in particular, the power of weaponry is very important."

President Trump had in his first term offered to mediate between India and Pakistan and that offer was rejected swiftly by India. It is not certain how seriously President Trump made this current offer on China.

Speaking first, the US President said, "Today, the Prime Minister and I are announcing a framework to strengthen those ties even further economically and the US-India compact for the 21st century is a historic initiative that will deepen every aspect of our partnership and our friendship."

"Starting this year, we'll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We're also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters. In 2017 my administration revived and reinvigorated the Quad security partnership in our meeting today, the Prime Minister and I reaffirmed that strong cooperation among the United States, India, Australia, and Japan. And it's crucial really, to maintain peace and prosperity and tranquility, even in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, the United States and India will be working together like never before to confront the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, a threat all over the world."

President Trump also announced the handing over of Tahawwur Rana, whose extradition to India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks was recently cleared by the US Supreme Court.

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