NEW DELHI: China on Wednesday said no Indian soldiers were killed during the latest skirmish occurred on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso in Ladakh even as Beijing continued to blame New Delhi for allegedly violating the consensus.
Referring to the face-off that happened on the intervening night of August 29 and 30, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “On my understanding, no Indian troops died along the border.”
Saying that India’s “guilty mind was conspicuously protesting”, Hua said: “You just said that the Indian side preempted China’s action. In China, we have a saying about a guilty mind protesting conspicuously, he’s innocent. That’s what India did. It shows that the Indian troops illegally crossed the line in provocation and unilaterally changed the status quo and broke the two sides’ agreement and consensus.”
She also accused the Indian Army of repeatedly violating the consensus and agreements with force.
“The responsibility lies with India. China has exercised great restraint to avoid escalation, being communicating through diplomatic military channels. China urged India to discipline frontline troops, stop provocation, stop actions of illegal trespasses and stop actions leading to escalation and complication,” she said.
The comments come a day after India said the Chinese resorted to aggression along the LAC.