India and China are now engaged in a bitter war of words for status of the Galwan valley with China laying claim to it and India terming it a “exaggerated and untenable” assertion.
China fired the first shot when it added a new twist to ongoing tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh by laying claim to the entire Galwan valley and blaming India for fomenting trouble leading to the bloody clashes on June 15 leading to killing of 20 India soldiers.
“India hit back by saying the position with regard to Galwan valley area has been historically clear. Attempts by Chinese side to now advance exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to LAC there aren’t acceptable. They aren’t in accordance with China’s own past position,” Ministry of External Affair said in a statement on Saturday.
The MEA also said Indian troops were fully familiar with the alignment of LAC in all sectors of India-China border areas, including in Galwan valley. They abide by it scrupulously here, as they do elsewhere, the MEA said.
The armies of the two countries are in a stand-off here for the last one month after the Chinese army stopped an Indian patrol and objected to the construction of a bridge. India, all along, has maintained that the bridge and the 250-km Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road running parallel to the LAC is in its region and the Chinese have no right to interfere. Incidentally, India has finished the construction of the 60 metre bridge in the valley.
The Chinese official statement issued through its Embassy in the early hours of Saturday came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with heads of all parties on the bloody brawl in the Galwan Valley and situation on the LAC.
In its statement the Chinese Government said “the Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the LAC in the western section of the Sino-Indian border.” On Tuesday, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Western Theatre Command spokesman Colonel Zhang Shuili said, “China always owns sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region.” Reacting to the PLA statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs described the claims as “exaggerated and untenable.
Accusing China of trying to create hindrance in patrol duty performed by Indian jawans, the MEA said, “Since early May 2020, Chinese have been hindering India’s normal patrolling pattern in the area. This resulted in face-off which was addressed by ground commanders. We don’t accept the contention that India was unilaterally changing status quo.”
The MEA went on to add, “Subsequently in mid-May, the Chinese side attempted to transgress the LAC in other areas of the Western Sector of the India-China border areas. These attempts were invariably met with an appropriate response from us. Thereafter, the two sides were engaged in discussions through established diplomatic and military channels to address the situation arising out of Chinese activities on the LAC.
The Senior Commanders met on June 6, 2020 and agreed on a process for de-escalation and disengagement along the LAC that involved reciprocal actions. Both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the LAC and not undertake any activity to alter the status quo. However, the Chinese side departed from these understandings in respect of the LAC in the Galwan Valley area and sought to erect structures just across the LAC. When this attempt was foiled, Chinese troops took violent actions on June 15 that directly resulted in casualties.
India said it expects that the Chinese side will sincerely follow the understanding reached between the Foreign Ministers to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which is so essential for the overall development of our bilateral relations.
On the other hand, the Chinese statement said, “For many years, Chinese border guards have been patrolling and performing their duties here. Since April this year, the Indian border defense forces have unilaterally continued to build roads, bridges and other facilities in the Galwan Valley region. China has repeatedly made representations and protests on this, but the Indian side has intensified cross-border troubles.”
The statement said China sought a commitment from India to “not cross the Galwan Estuary to patrol and build facilities”, underlining its claims up to the confluence. China also claimed that in the early hours of May 6, Indian border guards “crossed the line into the Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley area by night, constructing barriers, blocking the normal patrol of the Chinese border guards, deliberately provoking incidents, and attempting to unilaterally change the status of border control.”
It said “at the strong request of the Chinese side” India had “agreed and evacuated the personnel and facilities beyond the line”.
The statement claimed that at the June 6 Corps Commander-level talks, India “promised not to cross the Galwan Estuary to patrol and build facilities, and the two sides agreed to withdraw the troops in batches through a meeting of local commanders.”
India has so far insisted in the several rounds of military and diplomatic level talks that situation has to be restored status quo ante April this year. Now it seems a tough task as the Chinese army is in the Galwan Valley trying to change the perception of the LAC. It has also not withdrawn its troops from other standoffs.