China urges India to restrain

June 17 ------ In an event that Chinese experts call the most severe situation China and India have experienced along the border in decades, a fatal physical clash broke out on Monday between the two countries’ border defense troops in the Galwan Valley. The clash took place after Indian troops crossed the border to conduct illegal activities and launched provocative attacks against Chinese personnel, leading to physical self-defense measures from Chinese troops that reportedly caused the deaths of one Indian Army colonel and two soldiers.

Breaking their promises, Indian troops had again crossed the line of actual control in the Galwan Valley region on Monday evening and purposefully launched provocative attacks, leading to severe physical clashes, causing casualties, said Senior Colonel Zhang Shuili, spokesperson of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command, on Tuesday.

China has always maintained sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region, and the words of Indian border defense troops are inconsistent and seriously violate the agreements both countries have reached, seriously infringe upon the consensus made in the army commander-level talks and seriously harm the relations of the two militaries and the sentiment of the people in both nations, Zhang said. India should strictly restrain its frontline troops, stop all provocative actions, meet the Chinese side halfway and return to the correct path of solving disputes via dialogue, Zhang said.

Despite China and India’s close communication via diplomatic and military channels aimed at easing border tensions, Indian troops on Monday severely violated the consensus reached in the two countries’ commander-level talks on June 6. They crossed the border twice to conduct illegal activities and launched provocative attacks against Chinese personnel, leading to a serious physical conflict between troops from both sides, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian at a routine press conference on Tuesday.

The Chinese side has lodged strong protest and solemn representation to the Indian side, urging it to strictly restrain its frontline troops according to the consensus, and not to cross the border and make any unilateral movement that could complicate the border situation further, Zhao said. The statements made by both Zhao and Zhang came after Indian media reported on Tuesday that an Indian Army colonel and two soldiers were killed in the clash. Indian reports also claimed there were Chinese casualties.

A further 34 Indian soldiers are also missing, believed to have died or been captured, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday, citing senior Indian Army sources. This is the first time that military personnel have died in border clashes between China and India since 1975, Indian media said. The world has always focused its attention toward how China and India as major global powers solve their border conflicts. The two countries have only just walked out from the 72-day Doklam standoff in 2017 after meetings by the two countries’ leaders brought the serious border crisis out of harm’s way. Despite of this, a new conflict broke out again three years later, even causing the first deaths in four decades.

Just like the Doklam standoff, it was India that made the first provocative move by illegally crossing the line of actual control. It is obvious that India has become increasingly aggressive in border disputes with its neighboring countries, analysts said. Observers believe that small-scale conflicts in border regions between China and India will likely keep on occurring, but a large-scale military conflict will not.

The statements from China urged the Indian side to restrain its frontline troops and return to the avenue of talks. This shows the Chinese side treats the incident as an on-site conflict conducted only by frontline troops, and still see that dialogue is the ultimate approach to solving such issues. The Indian leadership should also attain this kind of rationale, restrain aggressive forces and frontline officers within its military, and let this bloody conflict be resolved by the wisdom of both sides, analysts said.

Source: mb.com.ph