India’s attempt to garner international support over its border clash withChina fell flat, as Europe’s powerhouse Germany has expressed only“concerns” but refused to take side in the conflict.
Germany on Friday said that the recent reports of border clashes betweenChinese and Indian troops are “worrying.” “Such provocations must beavoided. Disputed issues must be resolved amicably by both parties inbilateral talks,” Christofer Burger, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman,said at a weekly press conference in Berlin.
However, Burger welcomed Chinese and Indian diplomatic efforts tode-escalate the border conflict. “It is positive that contacts were madeimmediately on both sides, which prevented the situation from escalatingfurther,” he said.
German Ambassador in New Delhi Philipp Ackermann, however, said that theIndian side should understand the European position on the issue since theUkraine war is having a “very big impact” across the continent, in terms ofenergy prices, refugees and the fallout on the global rules-based order.
Chinese and Indian troops have clashed in a disputed Himalayan borderregion for the first time in more than two years, with reports of dozensinjured.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were injured in the skirmishes on December 9 inthe Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian army said on Tuesday.
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The border clash was the most serious since June 2020, when at least 24soldiers died in violent clashes, and came in the wake of months of majoracts of disengagement by both militaries in the long-running dispute.
Indian military commanders had reportedly met their Chinese counterparts onDec. 11 to ask the Chinese side to uphold peace.
According to an Indian army statement, both sides “immediately disengagedfrom the area” after the military face-off.
Indian intellectual Ashok Swain also commented on the issue saying Germanyis expressing concerns on India-China border clashes but refusing to takeIndian side. “Cheap oil from Russia is not that cheap, after all,” he added.
