China slams Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat’s 2-front war remark

NEW DELHI: China on Thursday reacted strongly to Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s statements on China’s ‘muscle flexing’, which opens the scope for conflicts. China questioned whether Rawat is authorised to speak on such matters. Beijing also asked whether his remarks represent India’s position, which is contrary to the views expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Xiamen this week.

Rawat, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi on Wednesday, had said India should be prepared for a two-front war. He asserted that China had started "flexing its muscles" while there seems to be no scope for reconciliation with Pakistan whose military and polity saw an adversary in India.

“As reported by the Indian press...we don't know whether he was authorised to speak those words or it was just his spontaneous words or whether his words represented the position of the Indian government," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang Referring to remarks expressed by Modi and Xi during their first meeting following the Doklam standoff, Geng said China and India are important neighbours and steady development of ties serves the interests of both nations.