The Sino-Indian Border Conflict Intensifies: The Two Sides Have Their Own Words On The “Shooting” Issue -BBC News

The Sino-Indian border conflict continued to escalate. China accused the Indian army of illegally crossing a disputed border in the Himalayas and threatened Chinese patrol soldiers with gunfire, but the Indian side denied this and accused the Chinese army of shooting first.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on Tuesday afternoon (September 8): “In this incident, the Indian side fired for the first time at the Chinese border troops. It is the first time since 1975 that the border between the two countries is calm. Disrupted by gunfire. “

Earlier, the spokesman for the Western Theater Command of the Chinese Army, Colonel Zhang Shuili, said on Tuesday morning that on September 7, the Indian Army “illegally crossed the line” entered the Shenpao Mountain area on the southern bank. from Lake Bangong in the western section of the Sino-Indian border.

He said: “In the course of the operation, the Indian army blatantly fired at the patrol personnel of the Chinese border guards who had made protests. The Chinese border guards were forced to take countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the ground.”

Zhang Shuili also said that “India’s actions seriously violated relevant China-India accords and agreements, increasing regional tensions, easily causing misunderstandings and misjudgments, and are serious military provocations of a very bad nature.”

After the Chinese side issued a statement, India openly denied that the Indian side had fired.

The official Indian statement stated that the Indian army did not cross the border or “take any provocative action, including shooting.” The Indian statement also stated: “Despite serious provocations, the Indian military has shown great restraint and acted in a mature and responsible manner.”

The Indian army stated in a statement that the soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army tried to approach the Indian army outposts in the Ladakh region in the western Himalayas and shot into the sky to threaten them. On the contrary, the Indian soldiers “neither crossed the actual line of control nor took provocative actions, including shooting.”

The Indian military criticized that China and India are currently negotiating at the military and diplomatic level, but PLA soldiers have blatantly violated the agreement and taken aggressive actions.

If the shooting allegations are true, this will be the first shooting incident 45 years after China and India reached a border ceasefire agreement. It is unclear what response measures China has taken.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday: “In this incident, the Indian side fired at Chinese border guards for the first time.” “The Chinese side has repeatedly emphasized that the two sides must resolve their differences through peace and through consultations and dialogue. Confrontation is not good for both sides. .

Zhao Lijian stated that China has made serious representations to India on this issue through diplomatic and military channels, demanding that the Indian side immediately stop dangerous behavior, immediately withdraw personnel crossing the line, strictly restrict front-line troops and strictly investigate and punish the personnel who shot to ensure that something similar does not occur. event. “Responding to a question from an Indian journalist, Zhao Lijian said,” We all hope that our military can return to the camp and not have any clashes on the China-India border. The local altitude is over 4,000 meters and the natural environment is highly unsuitable for human survival, especially in winter. We hope both sides can get through. Diplomatic and military channels, through consultations, can reach a consensus on withdrawal at an early date. “

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will attend the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Moscow this week. They are expected to meet on Thursday (September 10) to discuss the border dispute between the two countries.

The day before the current round of fighting, the Indian military warned Chinese officials that there were reports that the Chinese military had kidnapped five Indian civilians in areas near the disputed border.

Since June this year, the border conflict between China and India has intensified.

Indian officials said on August 31 that the Indian military had successfully prevented PLA personnel from “occupying” a hillside, but China denied this on the same day. The Associated Press cited news from the Indian army as saying that more than 20 Chinese troops crossed the royal line of control last Saturday and entered the area controlled by India. They were blocked by Indian personnel and forced the other side to evacuate. There was no physical conflict during this process.

In mid-June, clashes between India and China broke out in the disputed border area, killing at least 20 Indian soldiers. China has reported casualties, but the Beijing government has yet to confirm.

Limit

After the border war broke out in 1962, China and India have had friction in disputed areas for decades and blamed each other.

India accused China of sending thousands of soldiers to the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, and claimed that China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (14,700 square miles) of its territory. Over the past three decades, several rounds of negotiations have failed to resolve border disputes.

The “royal line of control” is a key point in the border dispute between China and India. If China and India cannot reach a consensus on the actual line of control, they will not be able to effectively conduct negotiations on the delimitation of the border.

But it is difficult to define the limits of the real control line, because the existence of rivers, lakes and snow means that the line can move.

The border war between China and India in 1962 ended with the defeat of India. In 1993, the two parties signed an agreement that the armed forces of both sides near the line of control could not use weapons.