China military demands India stop all provocations, return to dialogue

Statement comes following reports of a clash between Indian and Chinese troops

HONG KONG/BEIJING: China’s military on Tuesday demanded that India immediately stop all infringements and provocative actions against China and return to dialogue to resolve their disagreements, following reports of a border clash.

The remarks by Zhang Shuli, spokesperson for the Chinese Western Theater Command, were published by Chinese state media and the military’s official newspaper following reports of a clash between Indian and Chinese troops that India called a “violent faceoff” on the disputed border between two countries.

India’s army said three solders were killed in Monday’s clash.

India and China have been locked in a standoff in the western Himalayas for weeks, though there had been no casualties on either side.

The latest incident took place in the Galwan Valley in the mountainous region of Ladakh, the Indian army said in a statement.

Senior military officials from both sides were meeting to defuse the situation, it claimed.

On Saturday, top Chinese and Indian military officials held high-level talks on to resolve the latest border standoff between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The talks were held at the Maldo border outpost on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border between the two countries.