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Chinese state media dismisses reports India detained troops in border stand-off , calls it "purely fabricated"
Chinese state media has denied reports that border troops had been detained by the Indian army but said a routine patrol had been “unreasonably obstructed” late last month.
The two sides are separated by the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they have been unable to agree its exact boundaries.
China Daily said the troops were operating in a place called Dongzhang on the Chinese side of the de facto border.
Citing an unidentified military source, it said Indian media reports of Chinese soldiers being detained for crossing the LAC were “purely fabricated and inconsistent with the facts”.
Indian media reported last week that some Chinese soldiers had been detained for a few hours after a minor face-off near Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Hindu quoted one source as saying the “face-offs occurred due to differing areas of perception due to the demarcated boundary”.
It cited another official source as saying the Chinese had been detained for a few hours before the incident was resolved according to official protocols.
However, other official sources told the Hindustan Times that no soldiers had been detained or infrastructure damaged in the incident.
China Daily’s report said the soldiers took countermeasures after being obstructed and returned after completing their mission.
The source told the newspaper they had remained within Chinese territory “and it is entirely reasonable and legal for the Chinese border guards to organise patrols on their own territory”.
The Chinese military source said the Indian side “deliberately provoked and smeared [the Chinese side], and seriously violated the bilateral agreement”.
“The responsibility rests entirely with the Indian side,” the military source said. “The Indian side should earnestly comply with bilateral agreements, strictly control and restrain its frontline troops, and work with the Chinese military to maintain peace and stability in the border area.”
Tawang has traditionally been a friction point between the two countries. China claims the northeastern part of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet.
Last year the two countries’ armed forces became involved in a prolonged stand-off along another section of the border thousands of kilometres to the west in Ladakh.A deadly clash last June in the Galwan Valley claimed the lives of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
The latest face-off came days ahead of the new round of military talks on Sunday designed to ease tensions along that section of the LAC.
According to the Hindustan Times, the two sides were trying to agree on a disengagement plan for soldiers deployed at Hot Springs, one of the main friction points.
PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, criticised “despicable” Indian media reports that it said had hyped up a routine patrol as “big news”.
It said in a post on Weibo that Indian media should have more integrity, adding: “In recent years, the Indian media seems to have a particular preference for fabricating and hyping up Sino-Indian border issues, and they have played up the tense atmosphere and stimulated populist sentiments from time to time.”
It added that the border situation was developing in a “controllable and orderly” direction.
www.scmp.com
- One source denies that Chinese forces crossed the de facto frontier and says they were ‘unreasonably obstructed’ by Indian troops
- The latest incident follows a prolonged stand-off last year on a different section of the Line of Actual Control
Chinese state media has denied reports that border troops had been detained by the Indian army but said a routine patrol had been “unreasonably obstructed” late last month.
The two sides are separated by the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they have been unable to agree its exact boundaries.
China Daily said the troops were operating in a place called Dongzhang on the Chinese side of the de facto border.
Citing an unidentified military source, it said Indian media reports of Chinese soldiers being detained for crossing the LAC were “purely fabricated and inconsistent with the facts”.
Indian media reported last week that some Chinese soldiers had been detained for a few hours after a minor face-off near Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Hindu quoted one source as saying the “face-offs occurred due to differing areas of perception due to the demarcated boundary”.
It cited another official source as saying the Chinese had been detained for a few hours before the incident was resolved according to official protocols.
However, other official sources told the Hindustan Times that no soldiers had been detained or infrastructure damaged in the incident.
China Daily’s report said the soldiers took countermeasures after being obstructed and returned after completing their mission.
The source told the newspaper they had remained within Chinese territory “and it is entirely reasonable and legal for the Chinese border guards to organise patrols on their own territory”.
The Chinese military source said the Indian side “deliberately provoked and smeared [the Chinese side], and seriously violated the bilateral agreement”.
“The responsibility rests entirely with the Indian side,” the military source said. “The Indian side should earnestly comply with bilateral agreements, strictly control and restrain its frontline troops, and work with the Chinese military to maintain peace and stability in the border area.”
Tawang has traditionally been a friction point between the two countries. China claims the northeastern part of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet.
Last year the two countries’ armed forces became involved in a prolonged stand-off along another section of the border thousands of kilometres to the west in Ladakh.A deadly clash last June in the Galwan Valley claimed the lives of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
The latest face-off came days ahead of the new round of military talks on Sunday designed to ease tensions along that section of the LAC.
According to the Hindustan Times, the two sides were trying to agree on a disengagement plan for soldiers deployed at Hot Springs, one of the main friction points.
PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, criticised “despicable” Indian media reports that it said had hyped up a routine patrol as “big news”.
It said in a post on Weibo that Indian media should have more integrity, adding: “In recent years, the Indian media seems to have a particular preference for fabricating and hyping up Sino-Indian border issues, and they have played up the tense atmosphere and stimulated populist sentiments from time to time.”
It added that the border situation was developing in a “controllable and orderly” direction.
At de facto border with India, China says troops were ‘unreasonably obstructed’
One source denies that Chinese forces had crossed the de facto frontier and says they were ‘unreasonably obstructed’ by Indian troops.
www.scmp.com
