India has taken up the issue of recent provocative and aggressive actions by Chinese troops at the South Bank area of Pangong Lake with the Chinese government and have urged them to discipline and control their frontline troops, the Ministry of External Affairs has said.

“The Indian side is firmly committed to resolve all outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western Sector through peaceful dialogue. In this context, we expect the Chinese side to sincerely abide by the understanding reached earlier and earnestly work with the India to resolve the situation and to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Tuesday in response to a media query on the recent developments in the India-China Border Areas.

Protocol violation

India and China have engaged through diplomatic and military channels over the past three months to resolve the tense situation along the border. Earlier, the two Foreign Ministers and the two Special Representatives from both the countries had agreed that the situation should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters and ensure peace as per bilateral agreements and protocol, Srivastava pointed out.

“The Chinese side, however, violated this understanding and engaged in provocative military manoeuvres in the late night of August 29 and August 30 in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake.....Furthermore, on August 31, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops again engaged in provocative action. Due to the timely defensive action, the Indian side was able to prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo,” he added.

The actions and behaviour of the Chinese side since earlier this year along the LAC has been in clear violation of the bilateral agreements and protocols concluded between the two countries to ensure peace and tranquility on the border. Such actions are also in complete disregard to the understandings reached between the two Foreign Ministers as also the Special Representatives, Srivastava said.