China's aggression towards altering status quo violates bilateral agreement: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that China's aggressive behaviour and its attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo was in violation of the bilateral agreement between India and China. Singh categorically conveyed India’s position on the developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including in the Galwan valley in the Western Sector of the India-China Border Areas in the last few months to his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Moscow, according to a statement from the Defence Minister's office.

The two met for 2 hours and 20 minutes on the sidelines of a gathering of Defence Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This was the first highest-level face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the violent face-off erupted at the LAC in June.

"RM emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, their aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements", Defence Minister's office said.

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Furthermore, the Defence Minister clearly stated that while the Indian troops had always taken a very responsible approach towards border management, but at the same time there should also be no doubt about India's determination to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a statement by Defence Minister's Office said.

"Both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of bilateral relations and that the two sides should not allow differences to become disputes," Defence Minister's office said.

'Chinese side should work with Indian side for complete disengagement'

Singh also advised that it was important that the Chinese side should work with the Indian side for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols. The Raksha Mantri further said that the current situation should be handled responsibly and that neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas, the statement by the defence ministry said.

Raksha Mantri also emphasized that the two sides should continue their discussions through diplomatic and military channels, to ensure complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC at the earliest.

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Indian Army pre-empts Chinese attack

On August 31, the Indian Army said that the Chinese side carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo on Aug 29-30. "Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on the ground," the official statement by the Defence Ministry said. Furthermore, the Army has confirmed that there has been no physical clash between Indian and Chinese troops near the southern bank of Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh, after which a Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting was held at Chushul.

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