China blames India for face-off, talks on

BEIJING: China on Monday again blamed India for initiating the violent clash in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley last week that left 20 Indian and an unspecified number of Chinese troops dead even as it said the two countries were in touch to resolve the issue through diplomatic and military channels.

“The Chinese [side] has repeatedly stated that the rights and wrongs of this incident are very clear and initiated by the Indian side, and the responsibility does not rest with China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson’s office said in a written statement in Mandarin to HT. “China always strictly abides by the agreements signed between the two countries and carries out patrols and duties on the Chinese side of the LAC.” The statement added Beijing hopes that the two sides will “…earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, step up communication and coordination on properly handling the border situation and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity of the border area”. China on Friday released an account of the clash. It claimed Galwan Valley “is located on the Chinese side of the LAC in the west section of the China-India boundary” and blamed India for the clash. India rejected the claims of China’s sovereignty over the Valley, calling them “exaggerated and untenable”.

At a briefing on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry also refused to share any details of the ongoing military-to-military talks in the region.