Demands Delhi to punish those behind deadly clashes
Observer Report
Beijing/ Newdelhi
China and India said they want peace but blamed each other on Wednesday after soldiers of the two sides savagely fought each other with nail-studded clubs and stones on their Himalayan border, killing at least 20 Indian troops.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the clash erupted after Indian soldiers “crossed the line, acted illegally, provoked and attacked the Chinese, resulting in both sides engaging in serious physical conflict and injury and death”.
Zhao said the overall situation at the border was stable and controllable.
He said he did not know of any Chinese casualties.
China rejects the Indian allegation that Chinese troops intruded across line of control and has asked India not to build roads in the area, claiming it to be its territory.
China’s foreign minister demanded on Wednesday that India punish those behind the deadly border clashes between their forces, and warned New Delhi not to underestimate Beijing’s determination to safeguard what it considers its sovereign territory.
Wang Yi’s comments came in a telephone call with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
“The Indian side would best not make an incorrect judgement of the situation, would best not underestimate China’s strong determination to safety its sovereign territory,” Wang said in a statement issued by the foreign ministry.
‘India wants peace but will give befitting response if provoked,’ says Modi after China border clash
“We never provoke anyone,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on national television, referring to Monday’s hand-to-hand fighting. “There should be no doubt that India wants peace, but if provoked, India will provide an appropriate response.”
According to Indian officials, soldiers were hit with clubs studded with nails and stones during a brawl that erupted in the remote Galwan Valley, high in the mountains where India’s Ladakh region borders the Aksai Chin region captured by China during the 1962 war.The rival armies have been eyeball-to-eyeball at their border for decades, but it was the worst clash since 1967, five years after China humiliated India in that war.
