Galwan clash is a 'brief moment' from the perspective of history: Chinese Envoy's shocker

In a shocking development, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong termed the Galwan clash as "a brief moment from the perspective of history". 20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred when a violent faceoff took place on June 15 even as the de-escalation process was underway in the Galwan Valley. Writing in the August edition of the Chinese Embassy's magazine 'China-India Review', Weidong opined that the basic paradigm of the bilateral ties remained unchanged despite the "temporary difficulties".

Describing the current scenario as "unfortunate", he opined that it is short-sighted to portray China and India as a strategic threat to one another. He contended that both countries should work together to face the COVID-19 crisis and the daunting task of development. The Chinese Envoy reiterated his nation's commitment to disengagement and de-escalation while maintaining its sovereignty. Observing that the 'Dragon-Elephant Tango' is the only correct choice for both sides, he said that China and India need to focus on their development and achieve rejuvenation.

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The LAC faceoff

As per the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the Chinese side also suffered casualties during the physical clash. Both sides have held multiple rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings to resolve the situation. However, the People's Liberation Army of China again tried to unilaterally change the status quo in Eastern Ladakh at the end of August.  There are friction points in Eastern Ladakh, Gogra, Kongka La and Pangong Lake's north and south banks. 

Making a statement on the Line of Actual Control situation in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh affirmed that the Armed Forces were capable of facing any challenge from China. While acknowledging that the situation at the LAC is very different both in terms of the scale of troops involve and the number of friction points, he reiterated India's commitment for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Observing that the violent conduct of Chinese troops was a violation of all past agreements, he informed the MPs that India has done counter deployments in the area to safeguard the border.

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