Updated: September 1, 2020 8:56:01 pm
Sources had said that Indian troops had moved to occupy the dominant heights on their LAC side on the middle night of Saturday and Sunday on the south bank of Pangong Tso. (Express file)
Hours later China accused the Indian troops of violating the consensus, India responded on Tuesday, saying it has addressed the “matter of recent provocative and aggressive actions” with the Chinese side through diplomatic and military channels and has “urged them to discipline and control their troops first. line so that they do not undertake such actions. ” provocative actions ”.
In a detailed statement, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anurag Srivastava, said on Tuesday: “As you know, India and China have been closely engaged through diplomatic and military channels for the past three months to resolve the situation as along India-China. border. It will also be recalled that previously the two Foreign Ministers and the two Special Representatives had agreed that the situation should be handled responsibly and neither party should take any provocative action or escalate things and ensure peace and quiet in accordance with bilateral agreements and protocol. “
“However, the Chinese side violated this understanding and participated in provocative military maneuvers on the night of August 29 and 30 in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake. As the Indian Army said yesterday, the Indian side responded to these provocative actions and took appropriate defensive measures throughout LAC to safeguard our interests and defend territorial integrity. In addition, yesterday, August 31, even when the ground commanders of the two sides were in talks to reduce the situation, the Chinese troops returned to undertake provocative actions. Thanks to timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo, ”he said.
“The actions and behavior of the Chinese side since the beginning of this year throughout LAC has been a clear violation of the bilateral agreements and protocols concluded between the two countries to guarantee peace and tranquility at the border. Such actions also completely ignore the understandings reached between the two Foreign Ministers and also the Special Representatives, ”said the MEA spokesperson.
“We have addressed the issue of recent provocative and aggressive actions with the Chinese side through diplomatic and military channels and have urged them to discipline and control their front-line troops so that they do not undertake such provocative actions,” he said.
This came hours after China said Tuesday that it had filed diplomatic protests and claimed that Indian troops had “violated” the consensus on August 31 and “illegally trespassed on LAC.
Chinese embassy spokesman Ji Rong said in a statement: “On August 31, Indian troops violated the consensus reached in previous commitments and multi-level negotiations between China and India, illegally crossed the Royal Line of Control back on the shore. south of at Pangong Tso Lake and near Reqin Pass in the western sector of the China-India border, and carried out blatant provocations, again causing tension in the border areas. “
“India’s move has seriously violated China’s territorial sovereignty, seriously violated agreements, protocols and important consensuses reached between the two countries, and seriously damaged peace and tranquility along the China-India border areas. What India has done goes against the efforts made by both sides over a period of time to alleviate and cool the situation on the ground, and China resolutely opposes this, “she said.
The spokesman for the Chinese embassy said China has made “solemn representations to the Indian side, urged the Indian side to strictly control and restrict its front-line troops, seriously honor its commitments, immediately stop all provocative actions, withdraw immediately your troops illegally crossing the “Line of Current Control, immediately stop any action that leads to the escalation and complication of the situation.”
Tensions soared in Ladakh after The Indian Army said on Monday: “On the night of August 29/30, 2020, PLA troops violated the prior consensus reached during military and diplomatic clashes during the ongoing clash in eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military moves to change the status quo. “
“Indian troops anticipated this PLA activity on the southern shore of Pangong Tso Lake, took steps to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change the facts on the ground. The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility through dialogue, but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity. A flag meeting is taking place at the brigade commander level in Chushul to solve the problems, ”the Indian army had said.
Interestingly, the two sides differed on the dates of the incident: while the Indian army said that PLA troops violated the consensus on the night of August 29-30, the Chinese embassy said that Indian troops violated it on August 31. .
Sources had said that Indian troops had moved to occupy the dominant heights on their LAC side in the middle night of Saturday and Sunday on the southern shore of Pangong Tso, after reports from ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ) suggest a move by the PLA to occupy the same areas.
The Chinese also claim that these heights are on their side of LAC.
The area, east of the Thakung base, has always been under Indian control and is west of the Indian perception of LAC, the sources said.
The statement by the Chinese embassy spokesperson is in line with the statements by the Chinese Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs on Monday.
On Monday, the spokesman for the China Western Theater Command, Major Colonel Zhang Shuili, said in Chengdu that Indian troops illegally crossed the Line of Control (LOC) again on the southern shore of Pangong Tso Lake and near the Reqin mountain and carried out flagrant provocations.
Zhang made the remarks in a written statement in response to the recent China-India border situation on Monday night.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday that “Chinese border troops have been strictly observing the Royal Line of Control and never crossed the line. The Chinese and Indian border troops are in contact with each other on the issue on the ground. “
Meanwhile, the government decided on Tuesday that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will head to Moscow tomorrow to participate in the defense ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Hosted by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Singh will attend the SCO Defense Ministers Meeting on September 3 and will also meet Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who will attend.
Before his departure, Singh held a high-level meeting to review the situation along the Royal Line of Control, especially in eastern Ladakh. The meeting, which was attended by senior officials from the defense and security establishment, lasted about two hours, the sources said.
New Delhi is alarmed by the latest provocation by Chinese troops and the Chinese president’s comments. Sources in the Indian establishment pointed to the turn of events on Saturday, when Chinese President Xi Jinping told the country’s highest-level meeting on Tibet that safeguarding border security should be a priority.
“In China, nothing like this is a coincidence,” a source told The Indian Express on Monday night.
Sources in New Delhi said Chinese President Xi on Saturday had ordered party, government and military leaders to “solidify border defenses and ensure border security,” as well as ensure “national security and peace and security. lasting stability “in the region, which shares a long border with India.
Xi spoke at the seventh Central Symposium on Tibet Labor, which ended in Beijing on Saturday. It is the country’s most important forum for Tibetan politics, and the two-day event was the first such meeting since 2015. Saturday’s meeting was attended by the Politburo, prominent members of the military, law enforcement agencies, the law and the judiciary, as well as prominent officials. of Tibet and neighboring provinces.
The meeting came after a rare visit to the region by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this month, which included a trip to the disputed border. Wang said during the trip that the security and stability of Tibet were of vital importance to the overall development of China.
Wang, on his visit to France on Sunday (local time), gave a speech at the French Institute of International Relations and answered questions about China-India relations, saying that China is ready to handle all kinds of matters through dialogue. with India and that it won’t be. the first to complicate or aggravate the situation.
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