India rejects China’s Galwan Valley claim
DISPUTE MEA says violent clash was triggered by Chinese actions
nNEWDELHI:INDIA again rejected on Saturday China’s claim on Galwan Valley in Ladakh and reiterated the violent clash of June 15 was triggered by Chinese efforts to build structures on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.
The external affairs ministry dismissed claims made by China’s foreign ministry in a statement issued late on Friday night regarding both sovereignty over Galwan Valley and the genesis of the clash on Monday night that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the position with regard to Galwan Valley was “historically clear”. He added, “Attempts by the Chinese side to now advance exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to LAC were are not acceptable. They are not in accordance with China’s own position in the past.”
Srivastava further said that the brawl of June 15 was the result of “violent actions” by Chinese troops after they were prevented by Indian soldiers from building structures on the Indian side of the LAC. He noted senior military commanders of the two sides had agreed during a meeting on June 6 on a process for de-escalation and disengagement along the LAC that “involved reciprocal actions”.
“Both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the LAC and not undertake any activity to alter the status quo. However, the Chinese side departed from these understandings in respect of the LAC in the Galwan Valley area and sought to erect structures just across the LAC. When this attempt was foiled, Chinese troops took violent actions on June 15, 2020 that directly resulted in casualties,” he said.
People familiar with developments said the term “just across the LAC” meant an intrusion into the Indian side of the disputed border but not at great depth.
During his phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart
Wang Yi on June 17, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had conveyed India’s strong protest on “the events leading up to and on the violent face-off” on June 15. “He firmly rejected the unfounded allegations made by the Chinese side and the misrepresentation of the understandings reached between the senior [military] commanders. [Jaishankar] also underlined that it was for China to reassess its actions and take corrective steps,” Srivastava said.
“We expect that the Chinese side will sincerely follow the understanding reached between the foreign ministers to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which is so essential for the overall development of our bilateral relations,” he added.
The spokesperson reiterated that Indian troops scrupulously abide by the alignment of the LAC in all sectors, including in Galwan Valley, and the Indian side has “never undertaken any actions across the LAC”. He added Indian troops “have been patrolling” Galwan Valley for a long time without any incident.
However, Srivastava said that since early May, the Chinese side had hindered India’s normal and traditional patrolling pattern in Galwan Valley and this resulted in a face-off that was addressed by ground commanders in line with bilateral agreements.
In mid-may, the Chinese side “attempted to transgress the LAC in other areas of the Western Sector” of border areas and these attempts were “invariably met with an appropriate response” from the Indian side. The two sides then engaged in discussions through diplomatic and military channels to address the situation.
Late on Friday, China claimed Galwan Valley was on the Chinese side of the LAC and had been patrolled by its troops for “many years”.
The claim was made in what was described as a “step by step account of the Galwan clash” by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.
China’s People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) western command had in a statement issued on Tuesday initially claimed the region, saying: “The sovereignty of the Galwan River Valley has always been ours.”
On Thursday, Srivastava had dismissed the PLA’S claim as “exaggerated and untenable”.
Air Vice Marshal (retired) Manmohan Bahadur, additional director general of the Centre for Air Power Studies said: “There was never any question about the Galwan Valley and China’s claim on this region is untenable. There was no Chinese activity in the area, or we would have been briefed accordingly. It was well inside our side of the LAC.”