NEW DELHI -- India on Monday said that troops from China carried out "provocative military movements" along the Himalayan border, more than two months after a violent face-off left 20 Indian soldiers dead and unspecified casualties on the Chinese side.
The incident occurred on the night of August 29-30, the defense ministry said in a statement, accusing People's Liberation Army troops of violating the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in the region.
"Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake [in eastern Ladakh], undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on [the] ground," it said. Previous clashes had taken place on the northern bank.
"The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility through dialogue, but is also equally determined to protect its territorial integrity," the statement said, adding a brigade commander-level flag meeting was in progress between the two sides at the Chushul border point to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a news briefing on Monday in Beijing that Chinese border troops "never cross the Line of Actual Control," Reuters reported. The LAC serves as a de facto border between the two countries in the absence of a mutually accepted boundary.
The Indian statement did not provide many details of the latest confrontation, though it was made public unlike in the past when clashes were reported based on information obtained from sources.
"The release of the Indian statement to the media seems to signal the confrontation was serious," strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney tweeted.
There have been several rounds of dialogue between the two sides to disengage, especially after the June 15 Galwan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh, which was the first fatal incident in over four decades. No major progress has been reported in the talks so far.
"Complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC," Anurag Srivastava, a spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said last week.
"It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions. Thus, it is important to bear in mind that achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides," Srivastava said.
In early July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Ladakh to take stock of the situation on the ground. The visit was seen as a message of support for the soldiers stationed there and also sent a strong political signal to Beijing that New Delhi was serious about resolving the issue.
"Along [the borders], whoever tried to raise an eye toward the country's sovereignty, our armed forces gave them a befitting reply in the language they understand," Modi said in his address to the nation on the country's Independence Day on Aug. 15, referring to China and Pakistan, both regarded as threats.
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