Bengaluru: The news of 20 of our soldiers martyred at the India-China border (Galwan Valley) has upset all of us Indians. 

At a time when the coronavirus has had disastrous consequences on India, this is the last thing that India wanted. 

Now a top former US diplomat on Asian affairs has expressed his displeasure over the incident. 

"China is throwing punches and provoking its neighbours at a time when you'd think Beijing would want to ease up on confrontation and focus on the economy at home. Instead, Xi Jinping is making a conscious appeal to Chinese nationalism and appears to be calculating that China can handle the consequences of these actions," Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Daniel Russel said.

It is to be noted that Russel was former US president Barack Obama's point person on Asian affairs, and was most recently serving as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

He was also Special Assistant to the President at the White House and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also expressed his displeasure. 

"We are concerned about reports of violence and deaths at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China and urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint. We take positive note of reports that the two countries have engaged to deescalate the situation," Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Eri Kaneko said at the daily press briefing Tuesday.

"This will likely be a watershed moment in India-China relations and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific. We've already seen the deadliest clash on the China-India border in over 50 years, both countries are led by men who have embraced nationalism, and both countries are facing tremendous domestic and international upheaval as a result of COVID-19 and other long-standing problems," said Abraham Denmark, Asia Program Director at the Wilson Center.