India on Thursday blamed China squarely for tensions along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in Ladakh for the past four months and said the only way forward was through negotiations, reflecting the impasse created by Beijing’s new attempts to alter the status quo along the disputed border over the weekend.
There was no news from Beijing on the latest situation in LAC, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry cited Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and the popularity of yoga in the country to criticize New Delhi’s new ban of 118 Chinese apps and subtly warned India. not join the US “clean web program”, an initiative for an Internet without security threats.
The complex talks that were taking place through diplomatic and military channels to end the clash that began in May took a hit when Chinese troops resorted to what were described as “provocative military movements” on the southern shore of the lake. Pangong on August 29-30. They were thwarted by countermeasures by India, which quickly occupied several strategic heights and hills, and talks between local brigade commanders since Monday to ease new tensions have been inconclusive.
“It is clear that the situation we have witnessed in the past four months is a direct result of actions taken by the Chinese side that sought to effect a unilateral change of the status quo,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said in a statement. weekly press conference.
“Now the way forward is negotiations, both through diplomatic and military channels. The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue, ”he said.
The Chinese side, Srivastava added, should “sincerely involve the Indian side with the aim of quickly restoring peace and tranquility in the border areas by completely disconnecting and reducing escalation in accordance with bilateral agreements and protocols.”
Without going into details, he said that local military commanders are still holding talks to resolve the situation that had arisen from the attempt by Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo on the southern shore of Lake Pangong.
In Beijing, the foreign and trade ministries criticized India’s ban on 118 Chinese apps and called for the “mistake” to be reversed. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying even questioned whether India was working with the United States on these issues and called for New Delhi to adopt an independent policy.
The Foreign Ministry said that, unlike the reason behind India’s decision to ban the apps, the popularity of Tagore’s poetry and the wide approval of Yoga among Chinese citizens does not mean that Beijing considers issues such as “infiltration. “or” threat. ”
India on Wednesday banned 118 mobile apps, mostly Chinese, including Tencent Holdings’ popular PUBG video game, citing data privacy and security concerns. These applications collected and shared data “surreptitiously and compromise personal data and user information that may pose a serious threat to state security,” the Indian side said.
Hua said the latest ban would harm the interests of Indian users and the rights of Chinese companies. Both countries are ancient civilizations whose exchange dates back thousands of years, he said, giving the example of Tagore, many of whose poems are popular in China.
He quoted a line from one of Tagore’s poems: “We misread the world and say that it deceives us.” She added: “Also, yoga is becoming more and more popular in China, including myself, I am very fond of Indian culture. But we don’t think that Indian culture or poems or other things are creeping in here or pose a threat to Chinese culture. “
Hua issued a subtle warning about India-US ties: “I have noticed that the US state department said on the same day that India banned more than 100 Chinese apps and called on other countries to join. India to implement the clean grid initiative.
“So I don’t know if there is any correlation or interaction between India and the United States. But India is an ancient civilization with wise people. They should know what the United States has done in cybersecurity, for example, Dirtbox, Prism, Irritant Horn, Muscular, and undersea wiretapping. ”
Hua also said that China hopes that India “remains committed to its precious independence. [in] Decision making”.
Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng called on India to work with the Chinese side to maintain hard-won bilateral cooperation to build an open and fair trading environment for international investors and service providers, including Chinese companies. .
Foreign Ministry spokesman Srivastava defended the ban on the apps, saying they had engaged in activities detrimental to the sovereignty, integrity and defense of India.
“What I can say is that we remain open, we continue to receive FDI in the country, even in the area of Internet technology. However, what we would like to say is that companies, when operating here, have to operate in accordance with the regulatory framework of the Indian government, “he added.
India first banned 59 Chinese apps on June 29, days after a clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and caused unspecified Chinese casualties in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. Another 47 apps were added to the ban in July.
Experts in China were expected to criticize India’s ban. Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, said that while the ban will likely have a limited impact on the Indian economy, the “malicious intent behind the Indian government’s move to generate tension and even conflicts with China are reaching an increasingly dangerous level ”.
“This is dangerous. The worse the Indian economy becomes, the more likely New Delhi will cause a military conflict. This is a very worrying situation,” Zhao told state media.
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