BEIJING: China on Tuesday accused Indian forces along their Himalayan border of carrying out “provocative attacks” on its troops, leading to “serious physical conflicts” between the sides.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian’s remarks were China’s first official comment on clashes that India said left one Indian officer and two soldiers dead on Monday.
Zhao gave no details on any casualties on the Chinese side, but said China had strongly protested the incident while still being committed to maintaining “peace and tranquility” along the disputed and heavily militarized border high in the Himalayas.
“But what is shocking is that on June 15, the Indian troops seriously violated the consensus of the two sides, crossed the border illegally twice and carried out provocative attacks on Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical conflicts between the two border forces,” Zhao said.
A large number of Indian and Chinese troops had previously engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh over the last five weeks. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation, Army sources added.