The Indian Army on August 31 said that Chinese troops ‘carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo’ near Pangong Tso lake on August 29 and 30 but they were blocked and thwarted by Indian Army soldiers. The incident took place on the south bank of the Pangong Tso.
The fresh flare up comes amid ongoing talks to disengage and de-escalate tensions between India and China to resolve the four-month long standoff in eastern Ladakh.
‘On the Night of 29/30 August 2020, PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo,’ the Indian Army said in its statement.
‘Indian troops preempted this PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground,’ the statement read.
The statement also asserted that the army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility through dialogue ‘but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity’.
The government has said that a Brigade Commander-level meeting is on at Chushul to de-escalate tensions. Apart from Pangong Tso area, there has not been any disengagement in the Gogra sector as well.
In the northern area of Depsang Plains, the Chinese troops are at a point called the ‘Bottleneck , which is 18 km west of the LAC. China has blocked Indian troops access to five patrolling points in the area, which is close to Daulat Beg Oldie post of India near the Karakoram Pass in the north.
A week ago, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat had said India has ‘military options’ to deal with China if the military and diplomatic level talks did not achieve results.
The stand-off between India and China began in April-May escalated on June 15 when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action at Galwan Valley. The two countries had agreed on disengagement after the violent clash but the withdrawal of troops is still not complete.
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