India rejects China's claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley

India has rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over the Galwan Valley, where the soldiers of the two nations had a violent clash on Monday, resulting in casualties on both sides.

New Delhi said that Beijing’s “exaggerated and untenable” claim on the Galwan Valley was contrary to the understanding reached during the phone-call between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart in the Chinese Government, Wang Yi, on Wednesday.

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China last month started claiming sovereignty over the Galwan Valley, which was under effective control of the Indian Army for the past six decades. After the violent face-off between the soldiers of the two nations on Monday, the spokespersons of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government re-asserted China’s sovereignty over Galwan Valley, accusing the Indian Army of crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto border between the two nations.

They also accused the Indian Army soldiers of deliberately provoking the Chinese PLA “officers and soldiers”, resulting in “fierce physical clashes” and casualties.

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Jaishankar and Wang on Wednesday spoke to each other and discussed the violent clash between the Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley.

They agreed to “handle the overall situation” “in a responsible manner” and resolve the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in accordance with the understanding reached during the meeting between the Corps Commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies on June 6.

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“Both sides have agreed that the overall situation should be handled in a responsible manner and that the understandings reached between Senior Commanders on 6th June should be implemented sincerely,” Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi early on Thursday.

He recalled the consensus reached between the External Affairs Minister and his counterpart in Beijing during the phone-call on Wednesday. “Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding,” he added, dismissing Chinese Government’s claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley.

The Galwan Valley has been unaffected by the occasional flashpoints along the disputed India-China boundary for several decades, after a post of the Indian Army in the area was overrun by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in November 1962. The area remained under India’s effective control without any challenge from China for several decades.

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The lull ended last month, when the Chinese PLA deployed a large number of soldiers in response to what Global Times, a newspaper run by the Communist Party of China, reported as the construction of defence facilities by the Indian Army.

The deployment of additional troops by the Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley was part of its build-ups along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. It also built a bunker on the northern bank of Pangong Tso (lake), denying the Indian Army soldiers access to an area they earlier regularly patrolled. The Chinese PLA soldiers also transgressed into India’s side of the LAC. The Indian Army too deployed “additional troops” in adequate numbers. The build-ups by both sides resulted in a stand-off.