China has argued that the conflict in the disputed border region with India in the Himalayas was caused by Indian troops violating the Line of De facto Control (LOC).
Long Shaohua, the spokesperson of the Western Front Command of the People’s Liberation Army of China, said in a statement that Indian soldiers intervened in the Doncang region on December 9, intervening with Chinese soldiers who were conducting routine patrols by violating the borderline.
Spokesperson Long noted that the parties withdrew to their regions after the encounter and called on India to control its military units and maintain peace in the border regions.
In the news in the Indian press, it was reported that there was a clash on the De facto Control Line, which defines the uncertain borderline between the two countries, on December 9, and that there were wounded in the troops of both sides.
The unclear border line between China and India, surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains, causes sovereignty disputes between countries. The 3,500-kilometer border, which includes streams, lakes, glaciers, and snowy peaks, often brings the parties face to face.
Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometers of land in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls “South Tibet”, while New Delhi argues that 38 thousand square kilometers of land covering the Aksay-Chinese plateau is occupied by China.
The parties have not been able to resolve their sovereignty disputes for many years.
On 15 June 2020, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galvan Valley in the Ladakh region to the west of the border. China also announced that 4 of its soldiers were killed in the conflict.
After the conflict, the military units of the two countries became vigilant at the border, India deployed a surface-to-air missile defense system, and China deployed howitzers and tanks.
This tension was exacerbated by the “war” discourses in the public opinion of the countries with the largest armies in the world.
Negotiations were started between the military delegations of the two countries in order to reduce the tension on the border. After the talks, it was decided to withdraw the troops in the border region in a coordinated and planned manner.
It was announced that the withdrawal process, where the soldiers of the two countries returned to their lines in all border regions that caused friction, was completed on 14 September.
The new conflict shows that the tension in the border region continues.
