BEIJING: China on Tuesday asked India to immediately stop provocations, pull back trespassing troops and stop actions that might complicate or escalate situation on Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“We ask Indian side to immediately stop provocations, pull back the trespassing personnel and stop actions that might complicate or escalate the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular briefing while responding to a question regarding fresh crossing of Indian troops on the southern bank of Pangong Lake and near Reqin mountains.

She said that the Chinese side had expressed firm opposition and launched solemn representations against the India incursion.

Giving details of the incident, she pointed out that on August 31, the Indian troops broke earlier consensus reached between the two sides at a meeting and talks, and illegally crossed the line on the southern bank of Pangong Lake and near the Reqin mountains.

Terming act of Indian troops as an open provocation, she said that it caused renewed tensions, adding, “They violated China’s territorial sovereignty, two sides’ agreements and consensus and undermined peace and tranquility along the border.”

“This Indian act goes against the two sides efforts being taken for sometimes to ease the situation,” she said.

Responding to a question regarding contacts through military and diplomatic channels to resolve the issues, she said, on issues left over from the history including boundary dispute, China always believed in peaceful consultations to find mutually acceptable solution”.

“For sometime indeed, China and India have held a multi-level engagement and talks and made active efforts to peacefully resolve differences on the border and possibly disputes in order to safeguard peace and tranquility along the border,” she added.

On Indian stance over the fresh incident, she said, Indian’s side statement might be different from China’s but there was only one truth and fact and added,”70 odd years since founding of New China, China never provoked any war or conflict and never occupied an inch of any other country’s territory.”

Hua Chunying stressed that China’s border troops always strictly abide by the Line of Control (LAC) and never crossed the line. Perhaps there were some communication issues.

“I think both sides should stick to facts and have goodwill in maintaining the overall bilateral relations and take concrete measures to jointly safeguard peace and stability along the border,” she added.

She also criticized India media for biased reporting, she said, “We have noticed that for some time in India, there have been many media reports about increased military along the border.”

“I think people of the two countries want to live peacefully together and such Indian media reports are not consistent with people aspirations,” she added.

The spokesperson hoped that the Indian side would take China’s concerns seriously and make concrete contributions to peace and tranquility and development of bilateral relations.

Earlier, China’s Western Theater Command Spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Shuili in a statement has accused Indian troops for breaking their promises and again crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley region and provocatively attacked Chinese soldiers, hours after the Indian army accused the Chinese side of doing so.

He said that Indian troops were responsible for the latest escalation and demanded India immediately withdraw troops that had illegally intruded the Chinese border, and urged the Indian side to stop all provocative actions and strictly control frontline troops to avoid further escalation.

He informed the Chinese army was taking all necessary measures to cope with the situation and it would firmly defend China’s sovereignty and territory.

According to Chinese Defense Ministry, the Galwan Valley, which is part of the disputed region, is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western section of the Sino-Indian border. And Chinese soldiers have patrolled the area for many years.

However, on May 6, Indian soldiers’ first intrusion in the China-controlled Galwan Valley. On June 15, the Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in a nightly medieval clash in Galwan Valley, where India was trying to build a strategic road connecting the region to an airstrip close to China. As many as 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the fight.

Since then the two countries have held several rounds of commanders’ level talks to ease the situation on the border in Galwan Valley.

The disputed border covers nearly 3,500 kilometers of frontier that the two countries call the Line of Actual Control and that stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast.

The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success. Since then, soldiers from the two sides have frequently faced off along the contested frontier.

India unilaterally declared Ladakh a federal territory while separating it from disputed Kashmir in August 2019. China is among the countries to strongly condemn the move, raising it at international forums including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).