China had last night accused Indian soldiers of firing warning shots in the air during a confrontation.
New Delhi:
China tried to close in on Indian positions and fired shots in the air, India said today, accusing Beijing of trying to mislead their domestic and international audience with their statements alleging the opposite since last night. In a statement, the Army also asserted that at no stage had Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or resorted to any aggressive means, including firing. The fresh standoff took place at Rechin La to the south of Pangong Lake. Sources say the Indian Army continues to hold ground in the region after many provocations by the Chinese army. Some 7,000 Indian soldiers are at the spot and tanks have also been deployed after last night’s incident.
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“It is the PLA that has been blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres, while engagement at military, diplomatic and political level is in progress,” said India, accusing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of fresh provocation after a series of attempts at Pangong Lake over the past two weeks.
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On Monday, said the statement, Chinese troops were attempting to approach an Indian forward position along the LAC. “It was the PLA troops who were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC and when dissuaded by own troops, PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate own troops. However, despite the grave provocation, our troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner,” said the Army.
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China had last night accused Indian soldiers of firing warning shots in the air during a confrontation. It had also claimed that Chinese troops took “countermeasures”. Zhang Shuili, spokesman for the military’s western command theatre, said in a statement: “We request the Indian side to immediately stop dangerous actions…and strictly investigate and punish personnel who fired shots to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.”
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India said while it is committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation on the LAC, China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. “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 is an attempt to mislead their domestic and international audience,” the Army said.
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The latest incident came three days after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of a meet in Moscow and agreed to ease tensions.
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There have been at least two incidents of Chinese provocation at Pangong Tso, a glacial lake at 14,000 feet, on August 29 and 31. India said the Chinese made attempts to change status quo from a new area, the South Bank of Pangong.
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India was able to “prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo” at the LAC, the government said, underscoring that there were no physical clashes.
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The previous incident on August 31 was a daytime operation during which Indian soldiers were surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who were trying to regain the heights that are being dominated by the Indian Army. Sources said the Chinese soldiers were warned not to proceed and Chinese military commanders were asked to stand down to prevent any escalation.
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Tension between the countries peaked when 20 Indian soldiers died for the country in a clash with the Chinese on June 15. China also suffered casualties but never confirmed any figure.
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In July, following talks between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, India and China had started the disengagement process, which, however, remained incomplete.
