Trump has 'no formal plans' to mediate India-China row

US president monitoring situation, says White House spokesperson

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will not mediate between India and China after a deadly clash between the two Asian nuclear powers, the White House said on Wednesday.

There are "no formal plans,” White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany told reporters but said Trump is "aware" and monitoring the situation.

The US offered "its deepest condolences" to New Delhi for the loss of troops during a clash on Monday.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the skirmish in the eastern Ladakh area along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border of India and China in the disputed region.

It was the first time since 1975 that China and India engaged in a fatal military clash along the mutual border.

Border tensions between the two countries have existed for more than seven decades.

China claims territory in India's northeast, while New Delhi accuses Beijing of occupying its territory in Aksai Chin plateau, including parts of the Ladakh region which are part of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir region.