Home China India accuses China of trying to ‘change the status quo’ on the border

India accuses China of trying to ‘change the status quo’ on the border

Aishwarya Kumar and Ludovic Ehret

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday (13) accused China of trying to “unilaterally change the status quo” on the Himalayan border last week when clashes were recorded that left both sides injured.

“On December 9, 2022, PLA troops attempted to unilaterally change the ‘status quo’ by storming the Line of Actual Control,” Minister Singh said, in reference to China’s People’s Liberation Army and the de facto border between the countries.

The Chinese Army responded that the clashes happened when Indian troops illegally crossed the disputed border in the Himalayas.

Also read: IMF chief praises China’s ‘decisive’ move away from zero-Covid

Chinese troops “were obstructed by the Indian Army, which illegally crossed the (Line of Actual Control),” a Chinese Army spokesman said.

“Our response measures were professional, standard and forceful. And they stabilized the situation on the ground,” he added.

A few hours earlier, the Chinese government stressed that the situation is “stable” on the border.

“As far as we know, the situation on the China-India border is generally stable,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

“We hope that the Indian side will move in the same direction as China, sincerely implement the important consensus reached by the two governments, strictly abide by the spirit of the agreements signed by the two sides, and that together we can maintain peace and tranquility on the China-India border,” Wang added.

Read also: China announces nationwide loosening of Covid restrictions

This would be the most serious incident on the disputed border of the two Asian nuclear-armed giants since June 2020, when 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died in a clash.

India’s defense minister confirmed in Parliament that Indian and Chinese troops clashed on December 9 in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

An Indian Army source said that at least six Indian soldiers were injured.

Singh reported that local commanders from both sides attended a meeting on December 11 to talk about the incident. According to him, no soldiers were killed, and no one was seriously injured in the most recent clash.

Confrontation

China and India fought a war in 1962 over control of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims in its entirety and considers part of Tibet.

Also read: China’s November imports, exports plunge owing to Covid rules

Many areas of the long border are claimed by China and India, whose relations have deteriorated considerably since the June 2020 clashes on Tibet’s border with India’s Ladakh region.

The Indian military source also cited another “clash” between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the last week of November, which occurred in the Demchok region of Ladakh, the scene of the June 2020 incident.

It mentions increasing Chinese military activity in Ladakh, as well as a “possible” violation of the area’s airspace by China’s Air Force.

Chinese soldiers also displayed a banner with a message opposing the India-US military exercises.

Even before the June 2020 confrontation, India was already moving strategically closer to the West by deepening its cooperation with the United States, Japan, and Australia. The four countries formed the Quad alliance to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Contact Us

Generalist media, focusing on the relationship between Portuguese-speaking countries and China.

Plataforma Studio

Newsletter

Subscribe Plataforma Newsletter to keep up with everything!