China said on Wednesday that it has been abiding by the agreements signed with India and that it is committed to maintaining peace in the border areas, a day after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that Beijing is not respecting the usual alignment of the border.
Singh had told Parliament that China has engaged in a massive mobilization of troops in the Royal Line of Control (LAC), engaged in aggressive behavior and tried to unilaterally change the status quo, in contravention of border agreements and pacts. existing.
In response to Singh’s statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry again blamed New Delhi for the tensions, saying that it is India that has violated the agreements made to maintain calm along the disputed border.
“On the side of China, we have been respecting the agreements signed between China and India. We are committed to peace and stability in the border area, ”Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said when asked to comment on Singh’s statement.
“We are committed to our sovereignty and territorial integrity. But China is not to blame for the current situation. It is the Indian side that has violated the accords, first invaded the territory first and fired first to threaten the safety of the Chinese border troops, ”Wang said at the ministry’s regular briefing.
“So what is imperative is that the Indian side addresses these mistakes to comply with the disengagement agreements and take concrete actions to alleviate the situation on the ground,” Wang said, repeating Beijing’s stance on the months-long border standoff that sank down. bilateral relations at the worst level in decades.
India has already dismissed similar accusations made by China before, saying that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops were the first to provoke and were not ready to withdraw.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava clearly explained the Indian government’s position on the disengagement process earlier, saying that LAC “must be strictly respected and observed as this is the basis for peace and quiet in border areas “.
“During the Moscow meeting, the two Foreign Ministers reached five-point agreements on the border situation,” said spokesman Wang, referring to the recent meeting between Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi al on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow.
“We hope that India will work with China to comply with the agreement and also other agreements reached previously and put the border issue in a proper position in the overall picture of China-India relations,” he said.
Wang added that China is willing to work with India to maintain dialogue and consultation through diplomatic channels and jointly ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas.
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