US welcomes India, China efforts to lower border tensions

The United States on Tuesday welcomed efforts by India and China to resolve border tensions, after they recently agreed on ways to step back from their deadly 2020 confrontation.

"We understand that both countries have taken initial steps to withdraw troops from friction points along the Line of Actual Control. We welcome any reduction in tensions along the border," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

He said that the United States has discussed the issue with India but was not involved in negotiations.

China and India, the world's two most populous nations, have long had disputes over their 3,500-kilometer (2,200-mile) frontier, which came to a head in 2020 with a skirmish in the Himalayas that killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

India and China said last week that they had worked out patrolling arrangements in the area so as to disengage the two countries' militaries, with an eye to an eventual resolution.

The agreement came shortly before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for the first time in five years, on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Russia.

The United States has been building ties for more than two decades with India, in part viewing New Delhi as a natural partner due to shared concerns over the rise of China.

Washington this year approved a $4 billion sale of state-of-the-art drones to India that could be used for surveillance in the border areas -- a decision that came despite US lawmakers' concern over an alleged assassination plot, backed by New Delhi, of a Sikh separatist leader on US soil.