Beijing: China lodged Tuesday a protest with India over the June 15 violent face-off between the troops of two countries. China claimed that the face-off took place when the Indian personnel crossed the border line for ‘illegal activities’. They ‘provoked and attacked Chinese personnel’ leading to serious physical conflict.
The protest was ‘mentioned’ during a meeting with Chinese Vice- Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, Indian Ambassador here Vikram Misri said.
“There was a meeting at the (Chinese) foreign ministry during which what happened at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) Monday was discussed,” Misri said. When asked if China has lodged the protest, Misri told this agency, ‘yes, it was mentioned in the meeting’, but clarified that he was not summoned. “Summon is a wrong word,” Misri asserted when asked whether he was summoned by the Chinese foreign ministry.
Asked whether there was any discussion or mention by the Chinese about the casualties on their side, he said ‘our discussion was more about what had happened yesterday but we didn’t get into any details about casualties’. He added that the situation was still evolving.
It should be stated here that Luo was the former Chinese Ambassador to India.
China has alleged that the Indian troops twice crossed the border line June 15. It said so hours after the Indian Army said the violent face-off took place between the troops during the ‘de-escalation process’ in the Galwan Valley.
According to the Indian Army, an officer and two soldiers were killed Monday in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh during the violent face off with the Chinese troops. This is the first such incident on the India-China border in the last 45 years reflecting massive escalation.
The Indian Army also said there were casualties on both sides during the face-off. However, there was no immediate confirmation from Beijing on the likely casualties on the Chinese side.
“I am not aware of the information you provided,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing when asked about the reports of the Indian casualties at the contested borders.
“Our border troops had a high-level meeting and reached important consensus on easing the border situation. But astonishingly June 15 the Indian troops seriously violated our consensus. They twice crossed the border line for illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel. It led to serious physical conflict between the two sides. China has lodged strong protest and representation with the Indian side,” Zhao said.
PTI