India accuses China of fresh provocations amid prolonged border standoff
New Delhi, Sep 8 (efe-epa).- India on Tuesday accused the Chinese army of carrying out provocative activities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), or the de facto border between them in Ladakh region, despite ongoing diplomatic negotiations to reduce the months-long military tension.
The statement by the Indian armed forces came a day after China accused them of violating agreements and undermining attempts to deescalate tensions by conducting military maneuvers and firing warning shots into the air to intimidate the Chinese.
“It is the PLA (People’s Liberation Army of China) that has been blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres, while engagement at military, diplomatic and political level is in progress,” the Indian army said.
On Sep.7, 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,” the statement added.
In response to the “grave provocation” by the Chinese in the eastern Ladakh region, the Indian soldiers initiated deterrence maneuvers, although it exercised “great restraint” and behaved in a “mature and responsible manner.”
“At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing,” it underlined.
India claimed that China’s latest accusations were an attempt by the government at Beijing to “mislead their domestic and international audience.”
These counter-accusations come days after a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries, Rajnath Singh and Wei Fenghe, to discuss the conflict in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.
It was the highest level face-to-face contact between the two sides since tensions flared up in May near a disputed Himalayan boundary in the eastern Ladakh sector, where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a physical brawl in June. The Chinese did not make public their casualties.
The Ladakh frontier has been the source of confrontation and a long stand-off between the two sides with a massive build-up of troops along the LAC.
The two armies have been accusing each other of making provocative moves and trespassing disputed border regions that both countries claim as their own.
Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have failed to calm the tensions as troops remain engaged in the impasse at several border points in the cold desert region.
Both sides have repeatedly accused one another of carrying out fresh military provocations and violating prior agreements while talks continued. EFE-EPA
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