NEW DELHI • A senior Indian official said yesterday that Indian troops had been deployed on four strategic hilltops after what New Delhi called an attempted Chinese incursion along the disputed Himalayan border, underlining simmering tensions between the Asian giants.
But China denied that it had moved first, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying yesterday saying Indian troops had trespassed across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto border - on Monday, conducting "flagrant provocations".
Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a high-altitude border confrontation for months in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh. The two sides have disputed the course of the frontier for more than half a century.
The Indian official, who was briefed on the latest incident, said the Indian troop movement was in response to an attempt by a large number of Chinese infantry to push through a key mountain pass late last Saturday.
"We mobilised and occupied the four heights," the official said, adding that all four hilltops were on India's side of the LAC.
The Indian official said the Chinese soldiers were supported by military vehicles and drew close enough to engage Indian troops in verbal arguments, but there were no clashes.
He said the incident occurred on the southern bank of Pangong Tso, a picturesque lake in the snow desert region where Indian and Chinese troops have been facing off since April.
The Indian official said the Chinese had been consolidating positions on the northern bank of the lake with what appeared to be new defensive positions.
Mr Anurag Srivastava, a spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs, yesterday said the Chinese troops engaged in provocative action on Saturday and Sunday nights, and again on Monday.
"We... have urged them to discipline and control their frontline troops from undertaking such provocative actions," he said, referring to the Chinese side.
Ms Hua said at yesterday's regular press briefing in Beijing: "Chinese border troops have always acted in strict compliance with the Line of Actual Control, and have never crossed the line for any activities."
"China has made solemn representations to the Indian side, demanding that the Indian side stop all provocative actions and immediately withdraw those who have crossed the line illegally," she said.
"India... said it pre-empted Chinese military activity," China's state-backed Global Times said in an editorial yesterday. "The word 'pre-empt' shows it was Indian troops that first took destructive action, and the Indian troops initiated the stand-off this time."
"If India would like a military showdown, the PLA (People's Liberation Army) is bound to make the Indian army suffer much more severe losses than it did in 1962," it added, referring to the border war in 1962.
In June, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan area.
REUTERS
