By The situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will be discussed during the simultaneous visit to India next week by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary ofDefence Mark Esper, senior State Department officials have said at a media briefing late on Thursday.When asked if the LAC tensions will figure, an official said: “We’re watching the situation closely.I think both sides have expressed a desire to de-escalate violence.”The two sides are in the process of finalising several agreements with a critical military pact called BECA also in the works.The meeting comes a month before Quad countries — the US, India, Japan and Australia — will launch joint naval war games.Officials said instead of talking of countering China, the US would prefer to frame a discussion in a more positive trajectory with the end goal to “empower these countries toLike the MEA here, the US diplomats sought to convey the impression that the diplomatic calendar has its own dynamics.
