China considers India's move a serious military provocation

Zhao Lijian_ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson_ today once again claimed India fired warning shots at the border after which China was forced to respond.  India s action is being considered as a serious military provocation. India and China s bilateral relation has been affected. The responsibility lies entirely with India_ he said. Lijian added_  China is not going to lose an inch of our land. We should stick to dialogue to find resolution. India should discipline its troops.India should not hype and spread negative information. Even the Indian Defence Minister expressed India s intentions of maintaining peace. The statement came after India denied firing of shots at the Line of Actual Control where the Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in stand-off for over three months_ the Defence Ministry said in a statement. In the statement_ India accused China of trying to close in on Indian positions and firing in the air. This comes two days after the defence ministers of India and China met in Moscow_ and two days ahead of the scheduled meeting between the foreign ministers. "These are serious military provocations.. of a very bad nature_" PLA's Western Theater Command spokesperson Col Zhang Shuili said. Shuili_ in a statement published by the military's official news website early on Tuesday_ said that Chinese border guards took "countermeasures" to stabilise the situation. The statement did not make clear what those measures were or whether Chinese troops also fired warning shots. Troops of India and China were engaged in two fierce face-offs in Eastern Ladakh and near Naku La Pass in Northern Sikkim recently_ leaving several soldiers on both sides injured. In the first incident_ scores of Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed along the northern bank of the Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh on the late evening of May 5 and the face-off ended next morning following a dialogue between the two sides. It was the first case of troops from both sides exchanging blows after a similar incident had taken place around the Pangong Lake in August 2017. Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue_ it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. -Source: News18