Beijing: China urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop sowing discord between Beijing and countries in the region undermining the regional peace and stability, amidst his visit to India for a high-level dialogue aimed at further ramping up their overall defence and security ties, and boost strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Mike Pompeo arrived Monday in India along with Defence Secretary Mark T Esper. His visit was for the third edition of the US-India 2+2 dialogue with their counterparts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. After his India visit, Pompeo is due to visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Asked about Pompeo’s visit to India and other South Asian countries during which the top US diplomat’s focus would be on China’s threats, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here that ‘Pompeo’s attacks and accusations against China are nothing new’. He has repeated them time and again, Wang said.
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“These are groundless accusations which reflect that he is clinging to the Cold War mentality and ideological biases. We urge him to abandon the Cold War and the zero-sum game mentality and stop sowing discord between China and regional countries as well as undermining the regional peace and stability,” Wang said.
Wang’s remarks came amidst India and the US signing the landmark Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). The signing of the long-negotiated BECA between the two strategic partners also signals further boosting of bilateral defence and military ties, and it comes in the backdrop of India’s tense border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
In August, Pompeo said that China poses a threat to the West that is in some ways ‘worse’ than that posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In July, Pompeo criticised China for its aggressive moves against its neighbours, including ‘instigating’ a deadly confrontation with India in eastern Ladakh. He said Beijing cannot threaten countries and bully them in the Himalayas.