China has carried out “provocative military movements” in the Himalayan border area disputed between the two countries during the night from Saturday to Sunday, according to a statement from the Indian army, in a new outbreak between the two countries with nuclear weapons.
Indian troops got ahead of the Chinese army’s activity at Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, part of which was transgressed by Chinese soldiers in May, the statement said on Monday, adding that Indian troops took steps to thwart the Chinese attempt to “unilaterally change” the facts on the ground.
“On the night of August 29-30, 2020, PLA troops violated the previous 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, “the Indian military said in a statement.
Army officers from the two sides are meeting to resolve the latest border dispute that comes more than two months after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes that broke out between the two sides in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
“Indian troops got ahead of 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,” he said.
China denies that its troops have crossed LAC
China’s Foreign Ministry denied that its troops crossed LAC, adding that the two sides are communicating about conditions on the ground.
The two Asian giants have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the border dispute that erupted in late April after Chinese troops breached the Indian side of the Royal Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries.
There was no immediate comment from China.
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For months, troops have been locked in a standoff in the western Himalayas, with each side accusing the other of violating its nearly 3,500-kilometer-long (2,000-mile) border, most of which remains unmarked.
The recent border tensions are the most serious in more than half a century.
Both sides accused each other of instigating violence and vowed to safeguard their territory, but also to try to end the confrontation that drastically changed the bilateral India-China relationship.
India has banned dozens of Chinese apps, including the popular video-sharing app TikTok, and imposed restrictions on Chinese investments amid a backlash against Beijing following deadly border clashes.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar called the latest border confrontation “the most serious situation after the 1962 war” with China.
“This is without a doubt the most serious situation after 1962. In fact, after 45 years, we have had military casualties on this border. The number of forces currently deployed on both sides in LAC is also unprecedented,” Jaishankar told Rediff. com in an interview last week.
The current standoff high in the Karakoram Mountains takes place over contested parts of a pristine landscape that features the world’s tallest airstrip, a glacier that feeds one of the world’s largest irrigation systems, and a critical link with the huge “Belt and Road” of China. infrastructure project.
The clash began in three locations in April but escalated in June and spread to two other locations north in Depsang and the Galwan Valley, where India has built an all-weather military highway along the disputed border. .
On June 15, the situation turned deadly when rival troops engaged in a nightly clash in Galwan that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China reported no casualties.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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