Beijing: China has reiterated Beijing’s claim on the Galwan Valley.
In a series of tweets, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “The Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the west section of the China-India boundary. For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region. Since April this year, the Indian border troops have unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in the Galwan Valley.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry having made an unprecedented claim on an area that has been under India’s control in Beijing on Friday itself, the fresh tweets seem to be in response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that neither has anyone intruded into Indian territory nor has anyone captured any military posts.
“China has lodged representations and protests on multiple occasions but India has gone even further to cross the LAC and make provocations. By the early morning of May 6, the Indian border troops, who have crossed the LAC by night and trespassed into China’s territory, have built fortification and barricades, which impeded the patrol of Chinese border troops. They deliberately made provocations in an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of control and management. The Chinese border troops have been forced to take necessary measures to respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen management and control in the border areas,” Zhao said.
India has rejected Chinese claims on Galwan Valley. On June 16, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Chinese side had “departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley”.
“India was very clear that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC and we expect the same of the Chinese side,” he had stated.
As the war of words continues and tension in the border region of Ladakh simmers, the MEA is yet to respond to the latest statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry.
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