India's Modi says there was no border intrusion in deadly clash with China

[rooster59]

India's Modi says there was no border intrusion in deadly clash with China

By Sanjeev Miglani and Devjyot Ghoshal

 

An Indian Army convoy moves along a highway leading to Ladakh, at Gagangeer in Kashmir's Ganderbal district June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to downplay a clash with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and more than 70 injured, saying on Friday there had been no intrusion across his country's borders.

 

"Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured," Modi said, referring to Ladakh's Galwan valley, where hand-to-hand fighting between soldiers from the nuclear-armed neighbours took place earlier this week.

 

India and China are attempting to cool tensions after the deadliest clash in at least five decades, with military-level talks taking place in an attempt to deescalate the confrontation.

 

But Modi's comments, made in a televised statement at the end of an all-party meeting to discuss the incident, contrasted with his government's earlier stance.

 

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had told a senior Chinese diplomat that the dispute was triggered after "the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in Galwan valley on our side of the LAC," according to a ministry statement.

 

The LAC refers to the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border that has been a constant source of friction in the region where India and China fought a brief war in 1962.

 

With his nation in shock over the loss its soldiers lives, Modi faces one of the most difficult foreign policy challenges since he came to power in 2014.

 

On Friday evening, some opposition parties questioned why the government was not better prepared.

 

"Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country? Did our external intelligence agencies not report any unusual activity along the LAC?" said Sonia Gandhi, president of the opposition Congress party.

 

SOLDIERS RETURNED

 

Earlier on Friday, an Indian government source said that China had returned 10 Indian soldiers captured during the battle.

 

In a briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian denied any Indian troops had been in its custody.

"As far as I know China hasn't seized any Indian personnel," Zhao said.

 

The Indian army did not comment on the release, which according to the source took place on Thursday evening, instead referring to a government statement that said all of its soldiers were accounted for.

 

India has said the Chinese side also suffered casualties in the clash, but China has not disclosed any.

 

Military officials have since held talks, but there is no sign of a breakthrough.

 

"The situation remains as it was, there is no disengagement, but there is also no further build up of forces," said a second Indian government source, who is aware of the ground situation.

 

The official said at least 76 Indian troops were wounded during the clash, and had been hospitalised.

"No one is critical as of now," he said.

 

U.S. SYMPATHY

 

The United States offered condolences to India on Friday.

 

"We extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a message posted on Twitter.

 

"We will remember the soldiers' families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve."

 

Having actively sought greater economic engagement with China, Modi is compelled to review the state of those ties, just at a time when Sino-U.S. relations have also deteriorated.

 

As a non-aligned nation, India has always sought to balance the influence of super-powers.

 

But in the past two decades, New Delhi has built closer political and defence ties with Washington, and the United States has become one of India's top arms suppliers.

 

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Devjyot Ghoshal in NEW DELHI; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alex Richardson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-20

 

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[rasmus5150]

Glad that India took a stand against their aggressive neighbor.

 

We don't want any repeat of Tibet or Spratly Islands.

 

Sad to see only US took a stance and offered their condolences to India, European Nations should learn from this.

[rvaviator]

24 minutes ago, rasmus5150 said:

Glad that India took a stand against their aggressive neighbor.

 

We don't want any repeat of Tibet or Spratly Islands.

 

Sad to see only US took a stance and offered their condolences to India, European Nations should learn from this.

Apparently Mr T offered to mediate ... ???? .....

 

[PatOngo]

I hope the Indians whoop their aggressive expansionist Chinese butts!

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[Magenta408]

So, Modi lied. He was making such a big deal of it. He had all the national channels on youtube creaming their jeans. What of it? Nothing? Just like a small flat chapati. Nothing! India should be ashamed. 

[Baerboxer]

11 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

Glad that India took a stand against their aggressive neighbor.

 

We don't want any repeat of Tibet or Spratly Islands.

 

Sad to see only US took a stance and offered their condolences to India, European Nations should learn from this.

 

India are hardly bastions of honesty. Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block. Notice not many regional countries rushed to support them.

 

When I lived in India Modi was head of the state of Gujarat when it exploded in religious violence. He lied through his teeth throughout the troubles. A senior policeman from the Punjarb had to be drafted in, with 3k of his own Punjarbi police to restore law and order.

 

Modi is an ultra Hindu nationalist.

[Morch]

4 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

India are hardly bastions of honesty. Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block. Notice not many regional countries rushed to support them.

 

When I lived in India Modi was head of the state of Gujarat when it exploded in religious violence. He lied through his teeth throughout the troubles. A senior policeman from the Punjarb had to be drafted in, with 3k of his own Punjarbi police to restore law and order.

 

Modi is an ultra Hindu nationalist.

 

Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block.

 

Many? Do tell. Certainly not on par with China's issues with it's own neighbors.

 

Agree with the rest of your post.

[Baerboxer]

17 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block.

 

Many? Do tell. Certainly not on par with China's issues with it's own neighbors.

 

Agree with the rest of your post.

 

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, have long standing issues. ASEAN has not sort out close alliances with India, preferring China, despite some members having differences. 

Some African countries are very friendly with China, none particularly with India. There is a more friendly approach to China in the Middle East and South America than there is to India. So it's not just close neighbours.

 

Trump and Trudeau prefer India though! 

[Morch]

27 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, have long standing issues. ASEAN has not sort out close alliances with India, preferring China, despite some members having differences. 

Some African countries are very friendly with China, none particularly with India. There is a more friendly approach to China in the Middle East and South America than there is to India. So it's not just close neighbours.

 

Trump and Trudeau prefer India though! 

 

Your post was about "many regional countries", so Africa, South America and the ME carry little relevance.

What you're left with is Pakistan, Sri Lanka (sort of), and an unclear comment about ASEAN. It does not add up to "many". Certainly not in comparison to China's past and current issues with immediate neighbors and other regional countries. Both would include ASEAN members.

 

[tonbridgebrit]

On 6/20/2020 at 1:24 AM, PatOngo said:

I hope the Indians whoop their aggressive expansionist Chinese butts!

What are you trying to say ?

Modi has already said "Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured" .  So, India is actually declaring that no Chinese soldiers entered into India's territory. How can China be called "expansionist" when none of their soldiers entered into India ?

You're hoping that India will win a war against China ?  Well, how about, let the two them fight a war. The important thing is, is that America and NATO do not send soldiers to fight in this war. Surely, none of us wants to see American soldiers, in India, fighting alongside Indian soldiers, fighting the Chinese soldiers ?

[tonbridgebrit]

18 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block.

 

Many? Do tell. Certainly not on par with China's issues with it's own neighbors.

 

Let's have a comparison between India and China, and how they get on with their neighbours.

India. India is constantly having a dispute with Pakistan about their border. India's confrontation with Pakistan is far greater than India's dispute with China. India doesn't actually get on with Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a Muslim country, was previously called East Pakistan. India's dislike towards Bangladesh (East Pakistan) is almost as great as it's dislike towards Pakistan (West Pakistan) .  Does India get on with Sri Lanka ?  I'm not sure about that.  And then Nepal. Nepal has been in the news in the last few weeks. There's a dispute going on between Nepal and India. India basically, is not happy because Nepal has taken China's aid and loans, yes, Nepal is siding with China.

What about China ? Is there a fight between China and Mongolia ? No.  Is there a fight between Russia and China ? No, the cnfrontation between Washington and Russia is far greater than any confrontation between Russia and China. Actually, Putin is friends with Xi Jinping. Is there a dispute between China and North Korea ? No, North Korea is actually secretly backed by China. What about China and Afghanistan ? China has not sent soldiers into Afghanistan. Russia, they sent soldiers into Afghanistan back in the 1980s, America sent soldiers into Afghanistan after 9/11 .  But China, China has never sent soldiers into Afghanistan. So, which one of China's neighbours has a problem with China ?
Vietnam ? You do realise, Vietnam's memory of the Vietnam War (the war where they fought America) is still there. That dispute over ownership of the Paracel Islands, well, nobody has died yet.

So, I hope you can see, India has fought more wars, had more people killed, and greater disputes with it's neighbours, when compared to China.

[tonbridgebrit]

18 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Many regional countries regard them as the bully on the block.

 

Many? Do tell. Certainly not on par with China's issues with it's own neighbors.

By the way, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Who are these three countries siding with ?  Surely, you accept that they're far more aligned with China rather than India ?  And the Philippines ?  Surely, Duterte is good friends with Beijing ? You accept that ?

[rabas]

28 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

What are you trying to say ?

Modi has already said "Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured" .  So, India is actually declaring that no Chinese soldiers entered into India's territory. How can China be called "expansionist" when none of their soldiers entered into India ?

You're hoping that India will win a war against China ?  Well, how about, let the two them fight a war. The important thing is, is that America and NATO do not send soldiers to fight in this war. Surely, none of us wants to see American soldiers, in India, fighting alongside Indian soldiers, fighting the Chinese soldiers ?

Not sure what Modi meant but Reuters satellite images show lots of goings on. Hundreds of trucks, vehicles, other equipment, and recent construction just to get it all to the Indian border. Hard work. And debris, on the Indian side. Plus a lot of dead Indians tells a convincing story.

 

REUTERS:

Satellite images suggest Chinese activity at India's Himalayan border before clash

 

As for hope, probably everyone is hoping the CCP doesn't take undue advantage of the extreme problems their leaky viruses are causing across the world. I think that would not go unanswered.

Edited June 21, 2020 by rabas

[Morch]

2 hours ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Let's have a comparison between India and China, and how they get on with their neighbours.

India. India is constantly having a dispute with Pakistan about their border. India's confrontation with Pakistan is far greater than India's dispute with China. India doesn't actually get on with Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a Muslim country, was previously called East Pakistan. India's dislike towards Bangladesh (East Pakistan) is almost as great as it's dislike towards Pakistan (West Pakistan) .  Does India get on with Sri Lanka ?  I'm not sure about that.  And then Nepal. Nepal has been in the news in the last few weeks. There's a dispute going on between Nepal and India. India basically, is not happy because Nepal has taken China's aid and loans, yes, Nepal is siding with China.

What about China ? Is there a fight between China and Mongolia ? No.  Is there a fight between Russia and China ? No, the cnfrontation between Washington and Russia is far greater than any confrontation between Russia and China. Actually, Putin is friends with Xi Jinping. Is there a dispute between China and North Korea ? No, North Korea is actually secretly backed by China. What about China and Afghanistan ? China has not sent soldiers into Afghanistan. Russia, they sent soldiers into Afghanistan back in the 1980s, America sent soldiers into Afghanistan after 9/11 .  But China, China has never sent soldiers into Afghanistan. So, which one of China's neighbours has a problem with China ?
Vietnam ? You do realise, Vietnam's memory of the Vietnam War (the war where they fought America) is still there. That dispute over ownership of the Paracel Islands, well, nobody has died yet.

So, I hope you can see, India has fought more wars, had more people killed, and greater disputes with it's neighbours, when compared to China.

 

What I accept is that you either don't know your history or that you'll post pretty much anything in order to support the PRC. Could be both.

 

India's major regional issues are with Pakistan and China. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are old news, and not on the same level anyway. I'm not aware that India got a conflict with Nepal or that Nepal is "siding" with China. Other than in your post, most countries try and keep relations with stronger neighbors, rather than choose sides.

 

As for China's regional conflicts, here's a link to a list, have a ball. Many of these were discussed on topics in which you partook, but eh. The South China Sea alone relates to several such conflicts, no matter if you want to spin it otherwise.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Territorial_disputes_of_China

 

As for wars, there you go:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_People's_Republic_of_China

 

Did India actually fight more wars? Were there more casualties? Kinda doubt it.

 

2 hours ago, tonbridgebrit said:

By the way, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Who are these three countries siding with ?  Surely, you accept that they're far more aligned with China rather than India ?  And the Philippines ?  Surely, Duterte is good friends with Beijing ? You accept that ?

 

What's this "siding" about? None of the countries mentioned is specifically anti-Indian. That they have stronger ties with China is not quite the same thing.

 

 

[metisdead]

Some off topic deflection posts and replies have been removed.