BEIJING – Chinese Defense Ministry Wednesday said the recent border clashbetween China and India was completely caused by the Indian side’sviolation of consensus and unilateral provocation, and called for severepunishment to those who are accountable for the June 15 standoff.
For the recent China-India border tensions, India should severely punishthose who are accountable for the clash on the evening of June 15 and workwith China together to maintain the peace in border region, said SeniorColonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of NationalDefense (MND) at a regular press conference.
For the current situation in the border region between the two countries,Wu stressed that China has sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region andthe Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this regionfor the last many years.
He pointed out that since April this year, the Indian border troops hadbegun to unilaterally build facilities along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in the Galwan Valley region, regarding which China lodged multiplerepresentations and oppositions for many times.
In the early morning of May 6, the Indian border troops trespassed intoChina’s territory, built fortification and barricades and impeded thepatrol of Chinese border troops, in an attempt to unilaterally change thestatus quo of border control and management. The Chinese border troops hadbeen forced to take necessary responding measures and strengthen managementand control in these areas.
With China’s vigorous push, the two sides agreed to hold bilateralcommunications through multiple channels. On June 6, the border troops ofboth countries held the first Corps Commander-level meeting and reachedconsensus on easing the situation through concrete measures.
The Indian side promised that they would not cross the estuary of theGalwan river to patrol and build facilities, and the two sides woulddiscuss and decide phased withdrawal of troops through the meetings betweenon-scene commanders.
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However, on the evening of June 15, India’s front-line troops, in violationof the agreement reached at the Corps Commander-level meeting, once againcrossed the LAC for deliberate provocation, and even violently attacked theChinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thustriggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.
In response to such a deliberate provocation, “Chinese border troops tookdecisive countermeasures in self-defense, resolutely fought back againstthe violent acts of the Indian side, and effectively safeguarded China’snational sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Wu. India should bearthe full responsibility for the incident that was solely and completelytriggered by its breach of consensus and unilateral provocations. TheChinese side demands that India should severely punish those who should beheld accountable, strictly discipline its frontline troops so as to ensurethat such incidents do not happen again.
After the clash, China and India have stayed in close communicationsthrough military and diplomatic channels, Wu said. Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar reached anagreement over a phone conservation to handle the Galwan Valley clashjustly and fairly and cool down the situation on the ground. The secondCorps Commander-level meeting was held on June 22 where the two sidesexchanged views on the management and control of border tensions and themaintenance of peace and stability in the border areas.
Regarding to the future border situation, Wu expressed that China and Indiaare important neighbors to each other. Maintaining a peaceful and tranquilborder region is in the common interests of both sides and requires commonefforts as well.
China hopes that “India will work with China, follow faithfully theimportant consensus reached between the two leaders, abide by theagreements reached between the two governments, and properly handlerelevant issues through dialogues and negotiations on various levels. Thetwo sides should make great efforts to jointly ease current border tensionsand uphold peace and stability in these areas,” Wu said.
