China Defends Border Patrols as India Flags LAC Face-Offs in Arunachal Pradesh
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – China on Monday said that that it has “consistently and strictly abided” by the existing agreements and understandings with India, defending its regular border patrols after New Delhi blamed Chinese forces’ divergence from established patrolling patterns for disturbing the situation along the the Line of Actual Control.
India flagged Chinese troops’ divergence from established patrolling behind the border face-offs, China said it “strictly abided by the relevant agreements and important understandings” between the two countries.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that Beijing and New Delhi continue to communicate through diplomatic and military channels, called on India to take “concrete steps” and ensure peace and tranquillity is maintained in the border areas.
The Chinese reaction came days after India acknowledged continuing face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops along the border in Arunachal Pradesh after ITBP Director General Shatrujeet Singh said that the face-offs in several areas are atill continuing.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, “China has consistently and strictly abided by the relevant agreements and important understandings between the two countries, conducting routine patrols and management activities in the border areas to safeguard territorial sovereignty and border stability,” Guo said.
He added that India and China remained in communication through diplomatic and military channels.
“China hopes India will work in the same direction to jointly implement the understandings reached by both sides and take concrete steps to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the spokesperson added.
ITBP Director General Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor spoke about continuing face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops at several locations along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh.
He addressed ITBP personnel in Alwar, Rajasthan, Kapoor praised the force’s newly raised Shaurya commando unit for doing a “tremendous job” during the confrontations with the Chinese troops.
“Recently, a situation arose in Arunachal Pradesh where a face-off occurred at several places, which is still ongoing. There, our Shaurya Commando teams have done a tremendous job,” Kapoor said, as per media reports.
His remarks drew sharp reactions from the Opposition parties, which accused the government of hiding border situation from the people of the country
The Ministry of External Affairs responded to questions about the ITBP chief’s comments and clarified the border situation.
“As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He added that both countries continued to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations along the LAC.
Jaiswal emphasized that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas was essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.
