China’s blame narrative continues, says India ‘initiated’ Galwan clash

India initiated the violent clash in eastern Ladakh last week, China said on Monday continuing to blame New Delhi for the face-off in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, which left 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops dead in a vicious hand-to-hand brawl on the night of June 15.

“The rights and wrongs of this incident are very clear,” Beijing said in a statement to the Hindustan Times.

At the regular briefing on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry also refused to share any details of the ongoing military-to-military talks in the region, and, once again, stalled a query on the number of casualties that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) suffered.

“China and India are in communication with each other to resolve the situation on the ground through diplomatic and military channels. I have no information to release on that,” ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said.

Zhao’s comment was in response to a query on Indian minister V K Singh’s statement on Sunday in which he said China could have lost double the number of soldiers India lost in the violent clash.

The Chinese government has refused to reveal PLA’s casualty figures for a week now though Chinese state-controlled media has said both sides suffered casualties during the clash.

In a separate statement to the Hindustan Times on Monday, the spokesperson’s office reiterated its stance on the cause of the clash.

“The Chinese has repeatedly stated that the rights and wrongs of this incident are very clear and initiated by the Indian side, and the responsibility does not rest with China,” the spokesperson’s office said in a written statement in Mandarin to the Hindustan Times on Monday.

“China always strictly abides by the agreements signed between the two countries and carries out patrols and duties on the Chinese side of the line of actual control (LAC),” the statement said.

The statement added that Beijing hopes that the two sides will “…earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, step up communication and coordination on properly handling the border situation and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area”.

The latest statement from the Chinese foreign ministry continues from the so-called step-by-step account of the clash it released late on Friday night.

As a background to the account – which has been rubbished by India – the ministry claimed “…Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary.”

“For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region. Since April this year, the Indian border troops have unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in the Galwan Valley,” the statement said.

“Shockingly, on the evening of June 15, India’s front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the commander-level meeting, once again crossed the LAC for deliberate provocation when the situation in the Galwan Valley was already easing, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.”

Soon after China released this statement on Friday, India rejected the claims of China’s sovereignty over Galwan Valley, calling them “exaggerated and untenable”.