Even as the tension between the Indian Army and the PLA (Chinese Army) flared up once again, the former issued a statement clarifying that it had at no stage “transgressed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing”. India and China have been blaming each other for the turmoil at the border especially at Pangong Tso lake area for a few months.
According to Indian Army, the PLA troops “were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC”. The statement by the Indian Army added that “despite the grave provocation, Indian troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner”.
“The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility, however is also determined to protect national integrity and sovereignty at all costs. The statement by the Western Theatre Command [a division of Chinese Army] is an attempt to mislead their domestic and international audience,” Indian Army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said.
Earlier External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said the situation at eastern Ladakh was ‘very serious’ and called for deep conversations between the two sides at the political level.
Jaishankar leaves to Moscow this week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting, where he will hold talks with China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi. According to Jaishankar, the state of the relationship between the two countries is to a large extent dependent on the state of the border.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defence ministers meet.
