Chinese troops have “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” near Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, on Saturday night and they were blocked by the Indian armed forces personnel manning the area, the government said.
A Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting is in progress at Chushul to resolve the issues, as per the Government of India situation update.
The major flare-up, according to the reports, took place on the south bank of the Pangong Tso, which is of huge significance as no clashes have been reported here earlier.
According to a statement issued by Defence Ministry of India, “on the night of 29, 30 August 2020, PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.
“Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground.:
The statement added that Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquillity through dialogue, but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, a Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting is in progress at Chushul to resolve the issues, the statement mentioned.
In Ladakh China has established high speed connectivity, including the setting up of 5G network near Demchok and fresh constructions at the Pangong Lake.
As New Delhi claims that both India and China will “continue to sincerely work towards complete disengagement” of armed forces personnel, talks aimed at resolving the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, has so far yielded no results.
The armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff in eastern Ladakh, where China has reportedly occupied 60 sq. kilometres of territory claimed by India.
A Chinese diplomat reacting to the standoff in Ladakh has said that the move is linked to the Indian government’s unilateral decision to scrap Article 370 in August last year.
The move changed the laws that prohibited Indians from buying land in Kashmir, and made the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir defunct, triggering fears of demographic change in the Muslim majority region of Kashmir.
When India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued two statements criticising the development, including one that focused on the splitting of the state into union territories.
This statement, while urging India to be “cautious” on the border issue and to avoid “actions that further complicate the border issue”, said: “China has always opposed India’s inclusion of Chinese territory in India’s administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border.” This was a reference to the area in Ladakh that New Delhi claims but is controlled by Beijing.
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