High-level meetings between Chinese and Indian military commanders after the Galvan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh helped calm the situation on the de-facto border known as the Actual Control (LAC).
India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army “has carried out provocative military moves to change the status quo” and “violated previous agreements during the ongoing blockade in eastern Ladakh during military and diplomatic engagements.”
The statement said Indian troops had stepped up Chinese military activity on the southern shore of Lake Pangong Tso and had taken steps to strengthen their position and “thwarted Chinese intentions to unilaterally resolve the conflict on the ground.”
China’s foreign ministry on Monday denied any intrusion into Indian territory. “Chinese border troops have always strictly adhered to the actual Line of Control and never crossed this line. Border troops of both countries have maintained communication on the Line of Control,” spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
Lake Pangong Tso is a long, slender body of water located at an altitude of 4,350 meters (14,270 feet) in the Himalayas, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the Galvan Valley. Most of the lake is located in the Chinese region of Tibet, from where the Line of Actual Control passes.
Saturday’s alleged incident is the latest in a long-running series of regional flares between the two sides in the Himalayas. In 1962, India and China joined the border war, in which thousands were killed. In the aftermath of the conflict, both sides established a 2,100-mile (3, 379-kilometer) Line of Actual Control, although neither side agreed on its exact location and the two regularly crossed it, or sought to expand their territory.
Collisions are not uncommon with remote, mostly mountain borders. However, the June 15 incident was the worst in decades and plunged relations between Beijing and New Delhi into a tailspin.
China says India is fully responsible for the large-scale brawl that erupted on June 15 after Indian troops crossed the LAC in violation of an earlier agreement.
In late June, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said it was “shocking” that Indian troops had publicly violated the agreement, broken their promise and crossed the LAC on June 15 to provoke the Chinese side. “When the Chinese troops arrived to negotiate, they were suddenly attacked by the Indian troops and which led to a physical fight between the two sides and casualties.”
In response, India’s foreign ministry said China had provoked a deadly clash.
A statement from June said, “These are the first Chinese actions that have escalated tensions in the region since the violent uprising on June 15.
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