PM Narendra Modi's office now says Chinese sought to build structure "just across" LAC at Galwan Valley

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office on Saturday stated that the violent clash between Indian and Chinese military personnel at Galwan Valley on June 15 had taken place because the soldiers of the communist country were seeking to erect structures “just across” the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

A Hindi version of the statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated that the clash had happened because the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had wanted to build structures near the LAC (LAC ke najdik). The statement was issued a day after a comment made by the Prime Minister during a meeting with the leaders of all political parties triggered a controversy.

The LAC serves as the de facto border between the two nations.

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The PMO statement stopped short of clearly saying where the PLA soldiers were trying to build the structures – on India’s or on China’s side of the LAC. It, however, added that the sacrifices of the soldiers of the 16 Bihar Regiment had “foiled the attempt of the Chinese side to erect structures and also cleared the attempted transgression at this point of the LAC on that day (June 15)”.

A press-release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on June 17 had stated that the Chinese PLA personnel had sought to erect the structure by India’s side of the LAC.

“While there was some progress (in talks between military officials for de-escalation), the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in Galwan Valley on our side of the LAC. While this became a source of dispute, the Chinese side took premeditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties,” the MEA had stated in the press release it had issued after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his counterpart in Chinese Government, Wang Yi.

The MEA, however, issued another statement on Saturday, stating that the Chinese Army personnel had sought to erect structures “just across the LAC”.

It was later clarified that the "just across the LAC" in the MEA statement meant on India's side of the LAC.

“However, the Chinese side departed from these understandings (reached at the meeting between Corps Commander of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA on June 6) 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 15 June 2020 that directly resulted in casualties,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said on Saturday.

The MEA statement on Saturday appeared aligned with the one issued by the PMO on the issue of the location where the Chinese PLA had sought to build the structure.

The Prime Minister on Friday had a meeting with the leaders of a number of political parties on the clash between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. “Nobody is inside our territory, nor are any of our posts in anyone’s possession. Our 20 soldiers were martyred in Ladakh but they died only after teaching a lesson to those who cast their eyes on Mother India,” he told the leaders of the political parties. Some opposition leaders, military veterans and strategic affairs analysts criticized him for stating that no intrusion by the Chinese PLA into the territory of India had taken place.