New Delhi: Amid the brewing tension over reports of Indian and Chinese troops face-off in the Yangtse area of Tawan Sector in Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of the state Tuesday said that anyone transgressing will be given "befitting reply" by India.
"Yangtse is under my assembly constituency & every year I meet the Jawans & villagers of the area. It’s not 1962 anymore. If anyone tries to transgress, our brave soldiers will give a befitting reply," Khandu tweeted as he shared Defense Minister Rajnath Singh's speech in Parliament on Tuesday in which the latter said the country was ready to thwart any attempt that will be made to challenge it.
China remain tightlipped over the Arunachal face-off on Tuesday though with its foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin only saying that the situation was 'stable' on the Indian border as both sides have maintained "unobstructed dialogue". "As far as we understand, the China-India border situation is stable overall," Wenbin said.
The two sides "maintained unobstructed dialogue on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels", added Wenbin. Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh said that in the face-off, few soldiers on both sides suffered injuries.
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"I would like to tell this House that none of our soldiers died or suffered any serious injury. Due to the timely intervention of Indian military commanders, PLA soldiers have retreated to their locations", Defence Minister informed both houses on Tuesday. He also informed the Parliament that the matter has been taken up with China through diplomatic channels.
"I want to assure the House that our forces are committed to guarding our borders and ready to thwart any attempt that will be made to challenge it", said Singh. Defense minister Rajnath Singh said that Chinese troops attempted to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Yangtse sector on December 9, in a bid to unilaterally change the status quo along the contested border.
He said that the Chinese attempt was contested by Indian troops firmly and resolutely. "The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts," Rajnath Singh said.
The ties between India and China have been at a low and have turned sour since the Galwan valley border conflict in 2020 despite several rounds of diplomatic talks between the two countries.
