America supports India against Chinese aggression: US Senator

The US stands with India against the Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control, commending the Indian government for the continued efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the boundary issue, an influential American Senator on Friday said.

Republican Senator Rick Scott, in a letter dated July 2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences on the loss of lives of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley.

Scott said in the letter tweeted on Friday that "The United States stands with India as you fight against Communist China's aggression, and I commend your continued efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution."

He also wrote, "Unfortunately, we know Communist China never lives up to its commitments. The tyrants of Communist China continue to steal technology and refuse to open their markets to foreign goods as required by their agreement to be part of the World Trade Organisation."

China, he alleged, continues to attack religious freedom by detaining more than one million Uyghurs in internment and reeducation camps and have not lived up to the agreement to give Hong Kong autonomy and independence, he added.

Scott said that China is militarizing the South China Sea, even though it had promised former President Barack Obama not to do it, and now it continues to try to assert its military dominance in its quest for world dominance.

He also said, "Communist China believes that for them to be strong, America, India and other freedom-loving countries must be weaker. They are cracking down on freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong, and continue to threaten Taiwan and India."

If it continues down this path, Communist China's neighbours will have no choice but to treat it as a severe threat that uses military force against peaceful democratic powers, he wrote in the letter.

"As you continue to stand against Communist China and General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi (Jinping), I want to offer help in any way I can to the Republic of India, the world's largest democracy and our ally. The United States will always defend our allies and those fighting for freedom," Scott added.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks. The tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties, but it is yet to give out the details.