India warns China against attempts to alter status quo
BEIJING: India on Friday warned China that trying to alter the status quo on the ground by resorting to force will not just damage peace in the border areas but also have “ripples and repercussions” in the broader bilateral relationship, and demanded Beijing stop its activities in eastern Ladakh.
The only way to resolve the standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh is for Beijing to realise that trying to “change the status quo by resorting to force or coercion is not the right way forward”, India’s ambassador to China, Vikram Misri, said.
Asserting that actions taken by Chinese forces on the ground have damaged “considerable trust” in bilateral relations, he said it was entirely the responsibility of the Chinese side to take a careful view of relations and decide in which direction the ties should move.
Noting that maintenance of peace “on the border is sine qua non for progress in the rest of the bilateral relationship between India and China”, Misri said: “The resolution of this issue is quite straight forward from our perspective. The Chinese side needs to stop creating obstruction and hindrances in the normal patrolling patterns of the Indian troops.”
He said: “So I think there should be a realisation on the Chinese side that there is no gain in trying to alter the status quo on the ground especially by resorting to force... that will not just damage the peace and tranquillity that existed on the border but it can have ripples and repercussions in the broader bilateral relationship.”
Misri rubbished China’s claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley in Ladakh as “completely untenable”, and asserted that such exaggerated claims are not going to help the situation.
“Whatever activities we may be carrying on have always been on our side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), so the Chinese need to stop activities to alter the status quo. It is very surprising that they should attempt to do so in a sector which has never before been a sector of concern,” he said.
Emphasising that India is “very aware and very clear about the alignment of the LAC in the
Galwan Valley”, he said Indian troops have been patrolling up to these areas without any difficulty for a very long period of time.
Misri’s comments came in response to recent claims by the Chinese military and foreign ministry of sovereignty over Galwan Valley.
Misri said: “It is very surprising that they should have chosen, in the context of these recent developments, to do this kind of thing in a sector which has never before been a sector of concern. So for China to now voice these kinds of claims is completely untenable. These kinds of exaggerated claims are not going to help the situation. The kind of language that has been used is not helpful to the resolution of this situation.”
On Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong’s assertion on Thursday that the onus is on India to de-escalate tensions, Misri said, “I think we have been very clear and very consistent in pointing out that it has been Chinese actions over an extended period of time that are responsible for the current situation.
“In fact, beginning with the timeframe of April and May, I would say there were a number of Chinese actions along the LAC in Ladakh sector in the western sector that interfered with and hindered the normal patrolling activities of our troops in that sector. This led obviously to a few face-off situations,” he said.
The Chinese side needs to stop creating obstruction and hindrances in the normal patrolling patterns of the Indian troops
VIKRAM MISRI,
India’s ambassador to China