NEW DELHI: China on Friday once again tried to blame India for the continuing border tensions in Ladakh. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe reportedly told his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh that India is fully responsible for the border tensions between China and India, according to Chinese spokesman Global Times.
According to a Twitter post from the Global Times news website, Fenghe also told Singh, during a meeting in Moscow, that the Chinese military has determination, ability and confidence to safeguard China’s territorial integrity.
There was still no reading of the talks on the Indian side.
The conversation between Singh and Wei took place on the sidelines of the China-Russia-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) regional grouping in Moscow at a time when the two are locked in a bitter border row in eastern Ladakh. for about four months.
This is the first face-to-face contact at the political level in an attempt to break a deadlock in the dialogue between military and diplomatic commanders on withdrawing and reducing escalation.
The conversations that began at 9:30 p.m. Indian time on Friday continued for two hours and twenty minutes, according to a person familiar with the matter from the Indian side.
Wei’s position of blaming India for the current border tensions is consistent with Beijing’s position that New Delhi is responsible for the increase in tensions since May between the two countries following multiple intrusions into India by the military. People’s Liberation of China. Tensions were exacerbated by a violent clash between the two sides on June 15 in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. Twenty Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers died in the confrontation.
India, for its part, says that the current tensions on the border are due to Chinese intrusions in India and has demanded a return to the positions occupied by both countries in April, that is, before the start of the tensions.
Hours before the Singh-Wei talks in Moscow, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Friday at an event hosted by the government-backed India Council on World Affairs (ICWA) that India it will not compromise its sovereignty and territorial integrity and its ties with China. it cannot return to normal unless peace and quiet are restored along the common border.
India, for its part, says that the current tensions on the border are due to Chinese intrusions in India and has demanded a return to the positions occupied by both countries in April, that is, before the start of the tensions.
Hours before the Singh-Wei talks in Moscow, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Friday at an event organized by the government-backed India Council on World Affairs (ICWA) that India will not compromise. its sovereignty and territorial integrity and its ties with China. it cannot return to normal unless peace and quiet are restored along the common border.
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