Soon after the Chinese accusation of Indian troops violating the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and firing warning shots after crossing LAC in the south bank of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, the Indian Army on Tuesday dismissed Chinese claims by saying at no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC.
“While India is committed to disengagement and de-escalating situation on the LAC, China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing,” Indian Army said in a statement.
“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,” it added.
“Despite grave provocation, own troops exercised great restraint & behaved in a mature & responsible manner. We are committed to maintaining peace and tranquility, however are also determined to protect national integrity and sovereignty at all costs,” it added.
“In the instant case on 7 September, it was China’s 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,” Indian Army said.
Earlier, a PLA spokesperson had accused India of crossing the LAC and launching fire.
“The Chinese border guards were forced to take countermeasures to stabilise the situation,” a PLA spokesperson said.
He further said the Indian army illegally crossed the LAC and entered the south bank of Pangong Lake and the Shenpao mountain area.
“During the operation, the Indian Army blatantly fired threats to the patrol personnel of the Chinese border guards who had made representations, and the Chinese border guards were forced to take countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the ground,” the statement read.
China further called it a serious provocation of a very bad nature. “We request the Indian side to immediately stop dangerous actions,” it said.
READ: China claims Indian soldiers fired warning shots after crossing Line of Actual Control
In a separate development, ahead of his expected talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the state of the border with China cannot be de-linked from the state of the overall relationship with the neighbouring country.
The external affairs minister also described the situation in eastern Ladakh as “very serious” which he said calls for “very very deep conversation” between the two sides at a political level.