New Delhi building ‘illegal’ defence facilities in Galwan Valley, says Beijing

nBEIJING: China on Monday accused India of building “illegal” defence facilities in the Galwan Valley region of the disputed Aksai Chin area, which is controlled by Beijing but claimed by New Delhi.

Chinese border troops enhanced control measures in the area, a state media report said quoting an anonymous military source.

The latest round of conflict comes days after Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed at a remote site near the Sikkim border, which left troops on both sides injured. The nationalistic tabloid published the report on Monday about the developments in the Galwan region.

India and China have an unresolved border dispute that has cast a shadow on ties for decades.

Protracted rounds of negotiations have failed to resolve the 3,488km long border dispute between the two neighbours.

Troops from the two countries had clashed at the Galwan Valley region ahead of the 1962 war.

Neither the Chinese foreign or defence ministries had commented on the latest incident until Monday evening.

“In a resolute response to India’s recent, illegal construction of defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region, Chinese border defense troops have made the necessary moves and enhanced control measures,” the report said, quoting a Chinese military source.

“Since early May, India has been crossing the boundary line in the Galwan Valley region and entering Chinese territory,” the report said. adding the region belongs to China.

“The Galwan Valley region is Chinese territory, and the local border control situation was very clear. The actions by the Indian side have seriously violated China and India’s agreements on border issues and harmed military relations between the two countries,” according to the source.

The report added that troops from both sides were in contact with each other about the current situation.