No formal plans to mediate between India-China border dispute: US

As tensions between India and China reached boiling point after the clashes in eastern Ladakh, the White House on Wednesday (June 17) said it had "no formal plans" to mediate between the two countries.

"There are no formal plans on that," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

"President is aware of the developments. The US is monitoring the situation. We offer our deepest condolences," she added.

McEnany expressed her condolences over the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers in the violent clashes at Galwan Valley. She also pointed out that President Trump and PM Narendra Modi had discussed the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in June 2.

The Indian Army on Tuesday said the violent border clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday has claimed the lives of 20 Indian jawans, most of whom were "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain" and later succumbed to their injuries. 

It is the first incident involving the casualty of an Indian soldier in a violent clash with the Chinese Army after 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh.

Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured, ANI reported citing sources.      

In May, Trump offered to mediate between the two countries over the border dispute but both countries refused the proposal.