In this Sept. 14, 2017 file photo, Pangong Lake is seen near the India-China border in the Ladakh area of India. (AP Photo / Manish Swarup, file)
Officials in Ladakh said they expect more skirmishes in eastern Ladakh in the lead up to the talks.
- CNN-News18
- Last update: September 9, 2020 3:02 PM IST
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A day after the allegations of shooting on the south shore of Pangong Tso, the north shore of the lake has seen frenzied activity since Tuesday night. Officials told News18 that since Tuesday evening, a build-up of PLA has been noticed in the general Finger 3 area on the north shore of Pangong Tso. “From the heights that the Indian forces have occupied, the PLA buildup on the heights near finger 3 was observed. Soon, our side also fixed the numbers,” said an official.
News18, reporting from Leh, observed multiple air sorties from Sukhois, MIG and Indian Air Force transport aircraft. Locals said this aerial activity sped up slightly after midnight on the middle night of September 8-9. Officials also confirmed that all border troops were placed on the highest alert level after the build-up of the north shore was noticed. The frequency of air sorties has also increased in the past 15 hours to show readiness and respond to the mind games being played by Chinese forces.
The latest buildup comes hours before Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar meets with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. Officials in Ladakh said they expect more skirmishes in eastern Ladakh in the lead up to the talks. “It is clear that they will continue to pressure us as the talks take place, but we are prepared,” an official told News18.
India and China had a new clash on Tuesday when the Chinese side accused Indian troops of illegally crossing the border on the edge of the God Pao Mountain area and firing warning shots. India, however, denied the claims, with the Defense Ministry saying: “India, while committed to disengaging and reducing the situation in LAC, China continues to carry out provocative activities to escalate. At no time will the The Indian army has violated the LAC or resorted to the use of any aggressive means, including dismissal. “
The ministry further said that, in fact, it is the PLA that has been “openly violating the accords and conducting aggressive maneuvers,” while engagement at the military, diplomatic and political level is ongoing.
“In the present case, on September 7, 2020, it was the PLA troops who were trying to approach one of our forward positions along the LAC and when the troops themselves deterred them, the PLA troops fired some bursts into the air in an attempt to intimidate the troops themselves. However, despite the serious provocation, the troops themselves exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner, “the Defense Ministry statement read.
This comes two days after the defense ministers of India and China met in Moscow, and two days before the scheduled meeting between the foreign ministers. “These are serious military provocations … of a very bad nature,” said PLA Western Theater Command spokesman Col Zhang Shuili.
Shuili, in a statement published by the army’s official news website early Tuesday, said that Chinese border guards took “countermeasures” to stabilize the situation. The statement did not make clear what those measures were or whether Chinese troops also fired warning shots.
Both sides have observed a long-standing protocol to prevent the use of firearms along the sensitive high-altitude border that runs through the western Himalayas, although this agreement has prevented casualties.
Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in close combat in a clash in June, an incident that prompted China and India to deploy additional forces along the border.
“We call on the Indian side to immediately stop the dangerous actions … and strictly investigate and punish the personnel who shot to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated,” Shuili said.
Troops from India and China recently participated in two fierce clashes in eastern Ladakh and near the Naku La pass in northern Sikkim, leaving several soldiers on both sides wounded.
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