Bid to alter status quo will have ‘ripples’: Indian Envoy

Beijing, June 26

India on Friday warned China that trying to alter the status quo on the ground by resorting to force will not just damage the peace that existed in the border areas but can also have “ripples and repercussions” in the broader bilateral relationship. It demanded that Beijing stop its activities in eastern Ladakh.

The only way to resolve the current military standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh was for Beijing to realise that trying to “change the status quo by resorting to force or coercion is not the right way forward,” said India’s Ambassador to China Vikram Misri.

Asserting that actions taken by the Chinese forces on the ground have damaged “considerable trust” in the bilateral relationship, the Indian Ambassador added that it was entirely the responsibility of the Chinese side to take a careful view of the relations and to decide which direction the ties should move. Noting that maintenance of peace and tranquillity “on the border is sine qua non for progress in the rest of bilateral relationship between India and China,” Misri said: “The resolution of this issue is quite straight forward from our perspective. The Chinese side needs to stop creating obstruction and hindrances in the normal patrolling patterns of the Indian troops,” he said.

He also rubbished China’s claim of sovereignty over the Galwan valley in Ladakh as “completely untenable”, and asserted that these kinds of exaggerated claims were not going to help the situation.

“Whatever activities we may be carrying on have always been on our side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), so the Chinese need to stop activities to alter the status quo. It is very surprising that they should attempt to do so in a sector which has never before been a sector of concern.” he said. Emphasising that India is “very aware and very clear about the alignment of the LAC in the Galwan valley,” he said our troops have been patrolling up to these areas without any difficulty for a “very very long period of time”. — PTI

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