By Newsdesk Team - GEOPoliticalMatters.com
City of London Newsroom (Remote)
The latest spat in the China-India border dispute, which to date has seen troops face off in the Ladakh region, is being interpreted by commentators as an attempt by Beijing to warn New Delhi against aligning with the United States on geopolitical matters, according to India’s former foreign secretary and a former head of the National Security Advisory Board, Shyam Saran.
Saran, who served in the government of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and was his special envoy on matters ranging from US nuclear cooperation, climate change and India-Nepal ties, singled out two issues that had prompted the warning amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.
One was the Trump administration’s move to convince other countries, including India, that Beijing should be blamed for its initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak and that its influence at the World Health Organisation be investigated; the other, that Taiwan, which Beijing views as a part of China, should have “observer” status at the WHO.
“India will be chair the WHO Executive Council for the next two years and will be able to wield reasonable influence over the handling of the independent investigation into the Covid-19 pandemic and the other involving the resumption of observer status by Taiwan in the WHO,” said Mr Saran.
