VK Singh takes umbrage at 'distortion' of his China remark, clarifies 'LAC not demarcated'

On Wednesday, MoS Ro Transport and Highways General VK Singh (retd.) clarified that his statement on faceoff with China at Line of Actual Control was distorted. Speaking to media in Murai on February 7, Singh was quoted by a media publication as saying, "ne of you come to kw how many times we have transgressed as per our perception. We don’t anunce it. Chinese media does t cover it… Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, as per our perception". Refuting that he me such a statement, former Indian Army chief stated that both countries continue to have differing perceptions about borders along LAC.

Terming China's refusal to settle border dispute as a "bullying tactic", he reiterated that any aggression by People's Liberation Army would be responded to with "equal or greater level" akin to Galwan clash. According to General Singh, "malicious distortion" of his remarks h given China a platform to cover its own aggression and shift blame on India. A day earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin termed purported remark as an "unwitting confession" and claimed that India's "frequent acts of trespass" is root cause of tensions at India-China border. Moreover, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi h demanded Singh's ouster from Union Council of Ministers. 

Re clarification of General VK Singh (retd.) here: 

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LAC faceoff

 faceoff at Line of Actual Control was exacerbated when 21 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred in Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020, when de-escalation process was underway. This was followed by multiple attempts of provocation by Chinese side at end of August. Multiple rounds of military commander-level and WMCC meetings have taken place between two sides to resolve crisis. Besides this, EAM S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have met ir respective counterparts. 

 20th meeting of  Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) took place on December 18, 2020. developments along LAC were reviewed and both sides agreed to work towards ensuring complete disengment as per agreements reached between respective Foreign Ministers and Special Representatives. Furrmore, y ackwledged that 7th and 8th round of military commander-level talks h contributed to ensuring "stability on ground". On January 24, 9th round of Corps Commander-level talks was held to work out a phased disengment and de-escalation plan. 

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