China took provocative action 31 August as talks were on, says India

 Indian troops Monday occupied select sensitive heights around Chushul in strength so as to deny Chinese any mobility corridors in the sector. 

New Delhi: China took “provocative action” even as the ground commanders of the two sides were holding a meeting Monday (31 August) to resolve tensions that erupted with a fresh clash at Pangong lake between 29 and 30 August, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Tuesday.

The actions of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) made Indian forces take “timely defensive action”, the MEA added, telling Beijing to “discipline and control” its frontline troops.

“Yesterday, on 31st August, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement Tuesday. 

In a statement issued earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had said that India “grossly violated” China’s territorial integrity and “illegally trespassed” the Line of Actual Control (LAC) Monday.

Tensions between India and China, which began with PLA incursions along the LAC in Ladakh this May, continue to fester despite multiple rounds of talks aimed at disengagement at de-escalation. 

The brigade commanders on the two sides held a second meeting Tuesday after the weekend clashes, but it ended without any conclusive outcome, sources in the defence establishment told ThePrint. 

The situation on the border, the sources added, continues to remain tense with troops from both sides deployed “virtually eyeball to eyeball”.