New Delhi: India said Monday it has thwarted a “provocative” military operation by Chinese troops near a disputed border area in the eastern region of Ladakh. Months ago, the two sides were involved in some of the bloodiest clashes there in decades.
Military commanders from both sides met on Monday (August 31) to discuss the border situation and seek a solution, India’s Defence ministry said. India stands by its commitment to dialogue, the statement said, “but is equally determined to defend India’s territorial integrity.”
The statement also said the People’s Liberation Army “took a provocative action to change the status quo on the border” on Saturday night and violated “the consensus reached by the two sides’ previous military and diplomatic efforts” to defuse the confrontation in the region.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the two countries were communicating about the actual situation at the border. But he did not provide specific details. “Chinese troops have never crossed the Line of Actual control,” Mr. Zhao said at a regular news briefing.
India’s defense Ministry issued a statement a day later, but did not specify the nature of the latest operation. The statement said Indian forces “have taken steps to consolidate our positions and frustrate China’s intention to unilaterally change the status quo on the ground.”
“The Indian army has prevented the actions taken by the Chinese army on the south bank of The Lake, and has taken measures to consolidate our positions and frustrate China’s attempts,” the statement added.
The standoff between the two armies in the Karakoram mountains is over a border dispute in one of the world’s highest pristine regions. The glacier is one of the world’s largest irrigation systems and a key link in China’s One Belt And One Road infrastructure project.
The stand-off is divided into three areas. Soldiers from the two countries exchanged verbal warnings in Lake Banguong, then exchanged verbal abuse, stone-throwing and even mass brawls. In June of this year, the conflict escalated and expanded to reach the Sang-Galewan Valley. India is building all-weather military roads along the disputed border here.
On June 15, the two countries’ armies clashed in the Galewan Valley, causing dozens of casualties and the worst bloodshed between the two nuclear powers in 45 years.
India and China have a 3, 500km border, but some parts of it are not clearly demarcated. The armies of the two countries fought a war in 1962 over a border dispute.
On August 29, India announced it was pulling out of a multinational military exercise organized by Russia that also involved India, China and Pakistan. The Ministry of Defence said that due to the novel Coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, India will not send a delegation to participate in the “Caucus-2020” multinational military exercise in Russia.
The International News Agency Of Asia (ANI) quoted an Indian defence ministry source as saying that China’s participation in the exercise was also a reason for India’s withdrawal.
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