China’s behaviour was unacceptable in border clash with India

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged India on Wednesday to focus on domestic supply chains and reduce its dependence on China for telecommunications and medical supplies, as Washington’s ties with Beijing deteriorate dramatically.

India had a chance to move “supply chains away from China and reduce its reliance on Chinese companies in areas like telecommunications, medical supplies and others,” Pompeo said at the U.S.-India Business Council’s India Ideas Summit, being conducted online.

“India is in this position because it has earned the trust of many nations around the world, including the United States,” Pompeo said.

The U.S. administration has squarely blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic and accused Chinese firms like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd of cyberspying and facilitating human rights violations in China, charges Huawei and Beijing deny. The United States has also lambasted China’s new national security law for the former British colony of Hong Kong.

The United States has told China to close its consulate in Houston in a dramatic deterioration in ties between the world’s two biggest economies amid accusations of Chinese espionage.

India’s relations with China have strained following a border clash in the Himalayas last month in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Pompeo accused the Chinese of initiating the conflict, also denied by Beijing.