India slams China, rejects clash accusations
Says attempts of China to alter status resulted in serious disturbance which has affected ties
Hours after Beijing blamed New Delhi for the deadly Galwan Valley clash between troops of the two sides in June last year, India on Friday slammed China and rejected its accusations, saying it was the “provocative behaviour and unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter status quo in contravention of all our bilateral agreements that resulted in serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity”, adding that “this has also impacted the bilateral relations”.
Meanwhile, just hours before the start of the four-nation Quad Summit in Washington, Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong in a veiled barb at the Quad and the US, said that “some countries, with their ideological bias and Cold War mentality, vigorously seek closed and exclusive ‘small cliques’ with the aim of containing a third party, stoking bloc confrontation and geopolitical games” and that “ganging up with others” will not make one more secure. In a veiled swipe at India, he asked, “Twenty years ago, when the US started the Afghan War, many countries boarded its chariot. Twenty years later, what benefits have these countries gained?”
The Chinese envoy added, “Today, even for the most powerful country in the world, it is doomed to fail to make wanton military intervention in other countries and impose their own values and social systems onto others. Afghanistan is the latest example.”
The Chinese ambassador also warned that the thinking among “some Indian people” that China has become India’s major threat and strategic rival is a “serious strategic miscalculation” and that “if such judgment is translated into India's foreign policy, it would probably become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.” He added that “China-India relations have come to a crossroad once again, and we need to make the right choice” of cooperation, adding that “the relations remain at a low level”.
Mr Sun was speaking in a virtual mode at the inauguration of the “fourth High-level Track II Dialogue on ChinaIndia Relations”.