China reiterates sovereignty claim on Galwan valley; accuses Indian Army of crossing LAC

The Chinese Embassy has on Saturday issued a statement about Galwan valley faceoff wherein 20 Indian soldiers were martyred. It has claimed sovereignty over the valley and China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian has also claimed that Indian soldiers have 'unilaterally' built roads, bridges and other facilities at the Galwan Valley. Moreover, the statement added that Galwan Valley is on the 'Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)' in the west section of the China-India boundary.

Accusing India of 'provocation', China has claimed that Indian border troops in the early morning of May 6, 'crossed the LAC and trespassed into China's territory'. After talks military and diplomatic channels, the statement claimed, that India agreed to withdraw personnel who crossed LAC & demolish the facilities. Furthermore, it said that as per the consensus reached at the commander-level talks, it was the Indian side which agreed to withdraw but later refused.

Acknowledging for the first time that the physical conflict between the two sides let to casualties, China also asserted that their Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his phone conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar demanded India to carry out a thorough investigation and severely punish those who breached the 'consensus' and agreements between two nations.

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India on Galwan claim: 'exaggerated and untenable'

India has already rejected China's claim over the valley, calling it 'exaggerated and untenable'. "As we have conveyed earlier today External Affairs Minister and the State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China had a phone conversation on recent developments in Ladakh. Both sides have agreed that the overall situation should be handled in a responsible manner and that the understandings reached between Senior Commanders on 6th June should be implemented sincerely. Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding."

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Here is the full statement by the Chinese embassy:

On June 19, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian gave a step-by-step account of the Galwan clash and elaborated China's position on settling this incident.

Zhao Lijian pointed out that the Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary. Since April this year, the border troops of both countries (China and India) held a commander-level meeting and reached consensus on easing the situation. The Indian side promised that they would not cross the estuary of the Galwan river to patrol and build facilities and the two sides would discuss and decide phased withdrawal of troops through the meetings between commanders on the ground.

Shockingly, on evening of June 15, India's front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the commander-level meeting, once again crossed LAC for deliberate provocation when the situation in Galwan Valley was already easing. They even violently attacked the Chinese officers & soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflict & causing casualties. The adventurous acts of Indian army have seriously undermined stability of border areas threatened lives of Chinese personnel, violated agreements reached between the 2 countries on the border issue,& breached basic norms governing international relations. China has lodged solemn representations & strong protests to Indian side.

During State Councilor & Foreign Minister Wang Yi's phone conversation with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, he repeated China's stern position, demanding India to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident, severely punish those who should be held accountable, strictly discipline Indian frontline troops, and immediately stop all provocative actions so as to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. A 2nd commander-level meeting should happen as soon as possible to deal with situation on ground. 2 sides agreed to handle in just manner the serious situation caused by Galwan Valley clash, observe agreement reached during commander-level meeting and to cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible, and uphold peace and tranquility of the border areas in accordance with bilateral (b/w India and China) agreements reached so far. 

China hopes that India will work with us, follow faithfully the important consensus reached between the two leaders, abide by the agreements reached between the two governments and strengthen communication and coordination on properly managing the current situation through diplomatic and military channels, and jointly uphold peace and stability in the border areas.

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