China terms Indian Army's action on Pangong Tso south bank 'grave military provocation'

After its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) called the Indian Army’s action on the south bank of Pangong Tso (lake) on Monday “a grave military provocation”, China on Tuesday expressed hope that the stand-off along its disputed boundary with India would end before the advent of winter.

The Chinese PLA accused the Indian Army of flagrantly flouting the agreements the two sides. It also warned that the Indian Army’s moves escalated tension and could easily lead to “misunderstandings and misjudgements”.

Senior Colonel Zhang Suili, a spokesperson of the PLA’s Western Theatre Command, issued a statement late at night on Monday, stating that the Indian Army had “again illegally crossed” the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the south bank of Pangong Tso (lake) earlier that day.

He said that the Indian Army soldiers had “brazenly made gunshot threat” to the Chinese PLA’s personnel deployed for patrolling, who had gone forward for “negotiations”. The PLA troops had been forced to take “countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the ground”.

“The tranquillity of the border areas was for the first time since 1975 pierced through by the gunshots,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government, said on Tuesday. “China has been reiterating that the two sides should seek to resolve issues through peaceful consultation and dialogue. Confrontation does no one good.”

“You know that place (India-China border areas) has a very bad natural condition and it is above a height of 4,000 metres,” the PTI quoted him saying during a routine media briefing in Beijing. “In winter this is not good for humans to live. So, we hope, through diplomatic and military channels and through consultations on the ground, we can achieve disengagement as soon as possible and reach consensus.”

The transcript of the media-briefing released by the embassy of the communist country in New Delhi, however, does not have any reference to harsh winter along the LAC.

Col. Zhang earlier pointed out that India’s move was “a grave military provocation of very bad nature”. “The flagrant act (by the Indian Army) had grossly violated the agreements previously reached between the two sides and further escalated regional tensions, which could easily lead to misunderstandings and misjudgements,” he said.

He said that the Indian Army should immediately stop “dangerous actions” and pull back troops, who crossed the LAC and entered into the territory of China.

The PLA spokesperson also asked the Indian Army to “strictly restrain” its front-line troops, and “strictly investigate and punish personnel who fired shots” on the Chinese Army soldiers – in order to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.

He said that the PLA would resolutely perform its duties and missions and resolutely defend territorial sovereignty of China.