77th anniversary of Poonch link-up with India celebrated
The 77th link-up anniversary of Poonch with the rest of India was on Friday celebrated by the Army and civilian population of the border region.
India today rejected China’s claim that the Galwan Valley incident in Eastern Ladakh on 15 June last year took place because Indian troops encroached upon Chinese territory illegally.
”We reject such statements. Our position with regard to developments last year along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh has been clear and consistent. It was the provocative behaviour and unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo in contravention of all our bilateral agreements that resulted in serious disturbance of peace and tranquility. This has also impacted bilateral relations,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said when asked for comments on Beijing’s charge that India violated all the treaties and agreements.
The Indian spokesperson said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has already emphasised in his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this month that it was New Delhi’s expectation that the Chinese side would work towards early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols.
Advertisement
Twenty Indian soldiers, including their Commanding Officer Col Santosh Babu, were killed in a bloody clash with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops in the Galwan Valley incident that had brought the two countries to the brink of war.
China recently admitted that it had also lost four of its troops in the incident.
Advertisement
