As Brigade Commander level talks in the Chushul scetor end following the latest incident between India and China along the Line of Actual Control in the southern bank of the Pangong Tso in Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday urged China to discipline its forces and refrain from provoking India.
Responding to a media query, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India and China had been closely engaged through diplomatic and military channels over the past three months to resolve the situation along the India-China border.
“It would also be recalled that earlier the two Foreign Ministers and the two Special Representatives had agreed that the situation should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters and ensure peace and tranquility as per bilateral agreements and protocol.”
“The Chinese side, however, violated this understanding and engaged in provocative military manoeuvres in the late night of 29th and on 30th August in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake. As stated yesterday by Indian Army, the Indian side responded to these provocative actions and took appropriate defensive measures along the LAC in order to safeguard our interests and defend the territorial integrity,” he said.
“Furthermore, yesterday on 31st August, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo,” Srivastava added,
The MEA called China’s actions a “clear violation of the bilateral agreements and protocols” and said they were “in complete disregard to the understandings reached between the two Foreign Ministers as also the Special Representatives.”
No breakthrough had been achieved despite multiple rounds of talks from the joint secretary level to military commanders. Since the first clash in May, which took place along the banks of the Pangong Tso, Chinese and Indian troops had their worst clash since 1975 in the Galwan Valley region—which left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an unknown number of Chinese forces affected.
The incident in Chushul shows that the risk of hostilities persists despite ongoing negotiations, as the window for military action narrows in the lead-up to winter.
“We have taken up the matter of recent provocative and aggressive actions with Chinese side through both diplomatic and military channels and have urged them to discipline and control their frontline troops from undertaking such provocative actions,” Srivastava said, adding that India was firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western Sector through peaceful dialogue.
“We expect the Chinese side to sincerely abide by the understanding reached earlier and earnestly work with the India to resolve the situation and to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
