BEIJING: China seldom plays a victim, it did just that after the violent face-off in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.
Almost suggesting that India was the aggressor, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed in Beijing that the two ides had reached a high-level consensus on easing of the border situation when “astonishingly” the Indian side violated the understanding.
Giving details, Zhao claimed that on June 15 the Indian troops “twice crossed the border line and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel.”
The scripted statement was followed by another which seemed to lay bare the Chinese double-speak and duplicity. Asking India to adhere to the consensus and regulate its front-line troops, so that they do not cross the line, Zhao asked New Delhi “not to stir up troubles or make unilateral moves that may complicate matters."
The situation on the ground seemed to suggest otherwise: none other than, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had admitted recently that a sizeable number of Chinese Army personnel had transgressed into the Indian side of the de facto border in several areas, including Pangong Tso.
Ironically, the violent standoff came even as both sides were engaged in a "de-escalation process." Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane had said recently that both sides had begun "disengaging" in the Galwan valley.
What is alarming is that this is the first such incident on the India-China border in the last 45 years, reflecting a massive escalation which goes beyond the difference in perception of the border dispute. Even when Mrs Indira Gandhi had persuaded Sikkim to join the Indian Union, the
Chinese side had held back. Barring, of course, the incident in 1975, when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh along the de facto border. The Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a standoff at multiple points -- in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
