Indian envoy warns China of ‘ripples and repercussions’

India’s envoy to Beijing on Friday said Chinese troops have occupied territory on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, and demanded that they move back to their side of the border for normalcy to return to bilateral relations.

“India hopes China will realise its responsibility in deescalation and disengaging by moving back to its side of LAC,”

PTI tweeted, quoting the Indian envoy to China.

The statement by Vikram Misri, India’s ambassador to China, is the first admission by an Indian official since the violent clashes of June 15 between Indian and Chinese troops, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, that China has occupied territory on the Indian side of the LAC. The envoy said China’s attempt to alter the status quo could have “ripples and repercussions” in the broader bilateral relationship, and that China’s claim of sovereignty over the Galwan Valley was completely “untenable”. “Such exaggerated claims are not going to help,” Misri said. He added that the only way to resolve the stand-off is for China to stop erecting new structures.

Until now, India had maintained that while Chinese troops had attempted to erect structures across the LAC and sought to alter the status quo, Indian troops had foiled their attempts.

Misri’s comments come a day after China’s envoy to New Delhi, Sun Weidong, had repeated his country’s position that

Indian troops were responsible for the clashes.

“The onus is not on China. The Indian side crossed the LAC for provocation and attacked the Chinese border troops. The Indian forces seriously violated agreements on border issues between the two countries,” the Chinese envoy had said.

A little later on Thursday, India had blamed Beijing for “amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC” since early May, which it said had forced India to take counter measures.