New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s Ministry of Defence released a document this week acknowledging that “Chinese aggression” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been increasing, particularly in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian soldiers died in June in one of the worst skirmishes in nearly 50 years.
Congress party politician Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again hit out at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of lying to the people of the country about the recent face-off with China.
“Why is the PM lying?”, said Rahul Gandhi in a tweet sharing a news report on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) intrusion into Indian territory in the Ladakh region in May.
On 4 August, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shared a document listing the major details about activities on LAC but later deleted it from the website.
“Consequent to this, ground-level interactions were held between the armed forces of both sides to defuse the situation. A Corps Commander Level Flag Meeting was held on 6th June 2020. However, a violent face-off incident took place between the two sides on 15th June resulting in casualties on both sides”, the deleted documents stated.
Prime Minister Modi had said at an all-party meeting earlier that no one entered Indian territory and not an inch of land has been lost to a foreign entity.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May acknowledged that a sizeable number PLA troops had crossed into the Indian side of the LAC.
“Our policy is very clear that we will not hurt [the] self-respect of our neighbours, but I assured the nation that the government would not let anyone hurt India’s self-respect as well”, Rajnath Singh stated during an interview with a private news channel at the end of May.
Tensions along the LAC continue to prevail despite various rounds of de-escalation talks between the two nuclear-powered neighbours. Recent satellite images from the region showed an additional build-up of the Chinese Army in the contested region, with additional floating docks, tents, and huts in the Pangong Tso district as well as in Aksai Chin.
India has also deployed additional troops and tanks to the region.
The simmering border tensions between India and China resulted in a physical clash in the eastern Ladakh region on 15 June. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives but the casualties on the Chinese side, if any, have yet to be disclosed. Both countries accused each other of violating the loosely demarcated border line in Ladakh.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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