'Never transgressed across LAC, exercised great restraint,' clarifies Indian Army after China alleges cross-border fire

Amid the escalating border tensions between India and China, the Indian Army has released a statement on the India-China border dispute, clarifying that the Indian Army did not transgress across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or resort to the use of any aggressive means, including firing. This is the first statement of clarification from the Indian Army, that comes shortly after Beijing accused Indian soldiers earlier today of crossing the LAC in Shenpao mountains near the Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh and firing 'warning shots'.

Indian army issues statement on India-China face off after China claimed shots were fired at LAC on monday. At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing: Indian Army pic.twitter.com/CfLTdMFvEU

— Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) September 8, 2020

The Indian Army statement mentioned that it is the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) that has been "blatantly violating agreements and carrying out aggressive maneuvers, while engagement at the military, diplomatic, and political level is in progress"

Regarding China's allegation of cross-border fire from India's side on September 7, the Indian Army clarified by saying that it was actually the PLA troops who were attempting to close-in and after being dissuaded, the Chinese soldiers themselves fired a few rounds in the air to intimidate their own troops. It took a great test of patience from the Indian side to exercise restraint.

"In the instant case on 07 September 2020, it was the PLA troops who were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC and when dissuaded by own troops, PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate own troops. However, despite the grave provocation, own troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner," the Indian Army statement explained.

"The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility, however is also determined to protect national integrity and sovereignty at all costs. The statement by the Western Theatre Command is an attempt to mislead their domestic and international audience," the Indian Army statement concluded.

Earlier today, the Western Theater of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had claimed that India had, while acting provocative, illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control in Shenpao mountain near the south bank of Pangong Tso Lake on Monday. The Chinese side alleged that the warning shots were fired by the Indian Army soldiers after their PLA counterparts "were about to negotiate".

China further accused India of severely violated agreements between the two sides and blamed that it is working to increase regional tensions, calling it an act of provocation and this leads to misunderstandings.

India and China are engaged in around four-month-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. Despite several levels of dialogue, there has not been any breakthrough and the deadlock continues.

On June 15, as many as 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley.