New Delhi/June, 25 : India on Thursday said the “heart of the matter’’ behind the frequent incidents and face-offs along the LAC was the massive armament and troop build-up by China in the area since May this year. This has been accompanied by Chinese forces behaving in complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms.
Calling upon China to sincerely follow up on the understanding reached between the two Foreign Ministers to ensure speedy restoration of peace in border areas, India cautioned that a continuation of the current situation would only vitiate the atmosphere for the development of bilateral ties.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the deployment of a large body of troops and changes in their behaviour has also been aggravated by unjustified and untenable claims. The recent shift in the Chinese position on the Galwan Valley is one example, he said.
Srivastava said the Chinese build-up had forced India to undertake counter deployments and the resulting tension has “thereafter expressed itself’’. This build-up by both sides, he said, needed to be reduced in accordance with a 1993 treaty to keep military forces in the areas along the LAC to a minimum level compatible with friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries.
In terms of cooling tensions, the MEA felt the meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) after a gap of nearly a year was a “significant development’’.
The MEA said neither the change in Chinese behaviour in recent years, which departed from a mutual understanding of set patterns of patrolling that avoided each other, nor the massive build-up on the border was in accordance with the provisions of several bilateral pacts, especially the key 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC.
It all began in early May, when Chinese troops hindered India’s normal, traditional patrolling pattern in the Galwan Valley area. Though the ground commanders addressed this issue, the Chinese side sought to change the status quo in other areas of the Western Sector.
“We registered our protest on the Chinese actions through both the diplomatic and military channels, and made it clear that any such change was unacceptable to us. Subsequently, senior commanders met on June 6 and agreed on a process for de-escalation and disengagement along the LAC that involved reciprocal actions. Both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the LAC and not undertake any activity to alter the status quo,’’ recounted Srivastava.
But, the Chinese side departed from these understandings and sought to erect structures just across the LAC. When this attempt was foiled, Chinese troops reacted violently on June 15. Thereafter, both sides remain deployed in large numbers in the region, while military and diplomatic contacts are continuing, he added.
Placing the incidents and face-offs along the LAC in a larger context, the MEA pointed out that respecting and strictly observing the LAC was the basis for stability on the border. It also reiterated its previous statements about Indian troops being fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC and having always built the infrastructure on the Indian side. Indian troops also never tried to change the status quo at the LAC, but that has not been reciprocated by the Chinese side, leading from time to time to face-offs.
Changing patterns: India points out that over many years, both sides have developed patterns of patrolling. It was a reasonable expectation that patrols will not be obstructed in the discharge of their legitimate duties. Unfortunately, over the last many years there has been obstruction to patrolling that often accompanies efforts to unilaterally change the status quo.
