On Tuesday (local time), December 13, a US State Department spokesperson said in Washington DC that the US strongly opposes any attempts to advance territorial claims across the border at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This comes after clashes broke out between the Indian and Chinese soldiers at the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson in a press briefing was asked if the Indian government has briefed the US about the recent Indo-China face-off in Tawang, to this Price responded, “India is an important strategic partner of the United States be it bilaterally, in Quad as well as other multilateral fora. We do strongly oppose any attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions, military or civilian across the border at the established LAC.”
The US State Department spokesperson also urged both India and China to resolve border disputes through existing bilateral channels.
Before this, Price was asked by a media person about the US assessment of the timing of the recent Tawang clashes saying that the clash comes just weeks after China ‘slammed’ India-US ‘war games’ a hundred kilometres from the border.
The journalist apparently referred to the recently held Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ in Uttarkhand.
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Ned Price said that the US is closely monitoring the situation and is glad that the two countries quickly disengaged from the clashes. “I don’t have anything to offer on the timing behind the most recent clashes, Price said.
Notably, on December 9, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at the border area of the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh wherein the Indian troops gave a befitting response to the Chinese troops.
The Defence Ministry issued a statement over the media reports on clashes between Indian, and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh. “In certain areas along the LAC in the Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh there are areas of differing perception, wherein both sides patrol the area up to their claim lines. This has been the trend since 2006, the statement said.
The Defence Ministry said both sides immediately disengaged from the area. “As a follow up of the incident, our own Commander in the area held a Flag Meeting with his counterpart to discuss the issue in accordance with structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquillity,” it added.
The number of injured Chinese soldiers in the clash exceeds the number of injured Indian soldiers.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Parliament that the Indian Army troops bravely prevented the Chinese Army from transgressing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Yangtse area of Arunachal’s Tawang sector on December 9.
My Statement in Rajya Sabha
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“Our Army valiantly fought back & forced Chinese troops to go back to their post. They foiled China’s bid to unilaterally alter the status quo along the LAC in the Tawang sector. Both sides have suffered some injury, none of our soldiers is seriously injured or dead,” Singh said in Lok Sabha.
