China says Elephant & Dragon can dance amid face-off with India as Trump offers to mediate

Amid the India-China face-off at the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Ladakh, Bejing has taken a de-acceleratory approach even as US President Donald Trump offered to mediate.

The Chinese envoy to India, Sun Weidong speaking at the Confederation of Young leaders Zoom meet said, "realization of "Dragon and Elephant dancing together" is the only right choice for China and India, which serves the fundamental interests of our two countries and two peoples."

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"China and India are each other's opportunities and pose no threat to each other" and both "need to see each other's development in a correct way and enhance strategic mutual trust. We should correctly view our differences and never let the differences shadow the overall situation of bilateral cooperation."

Earlier in the day, the Chinese foreign ministry in its daily presser said,"Current situation on China-India border is generally stable and controllable" and confirmed both sides are in touch with each other.

Government sources had told WION on Tuesday that the ongoing India-China standoff along the LAC is "sensitive but not dangerous" and both sides are in communication to resolve the current situation at local and diplomatic."

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he is willing to mediate in the "raging border" dispute. 

"We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute. Thank you!, the US President said in a tweet.

India and China face-off comes three years after the 2017 Doklam crisis. After the 73-day Doklam crisis both countries had established a mechanism of informal summits alternating between the two countries to resolve any problems that may arise. 

In the first informal summit in Wuhan in 2018, both sides gave "guidance" to forces and "committed" to work for the "common objective of maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas". It was reiterated again in the Mamallapuram informal summit that took last year.

US President's offer may not find any traction. Nirupama Rao, India's former foreign secretary, and envoy to the US said, while "US and India are firm friends and strategic partners and kindred democracies. The US and China on the other hand, are in an increasingly combative and competitive mode of relations."

"Offer by President Trump to mediate between India and China is well-intentioned it will not have traction. India and China will have to continue their efforts to seek peaceful solutions to their differences without any third country involvement,"  Nirupama Rao said,