China-India border clash: foreign ministers call for calm ahead of talks

Further dialogue to take place on Tuesday, but heavy military presence continues

The two sides remain at odds in their views of the weekend’s confrontation at the disputed border area of Pangong Tso

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The disputed India-China border was the scene of fresh confrontations over the weekend. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 3:49pm, 1 Sep 2020Updated: 5:15pm, 1 Sep 2020

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for calm and further dialogue after the latest high-stakes border stand-off with India over the weekend.

Wang’s comments came on the heels of the first major incident since deadly border clashes between the two sides in June that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and caused an undisclosed number of Chinese casualties.

“We will not take the initiative to complicate or escalate the situation,” Wang said during a visit to France on Sunday. “Of course, we must also firmly safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The border between China and India has not been demarcated, so there will always be problems of this kind. We are willing to manage various problems through dialogue with the Indian side.”

His remarks coincided with reports of a confrontation between Chinese and Indian troops at the disputed hotspot of Pangong Tso, a high mountain lake, where India and China have opposing views of the location of the effective border – the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Official accounts of the incident differ between the two sides. The Indian army said in a statement that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out “provocative military movements to change the status quo” last Saturday night into Sunday morning.

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