The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the Indian side had to undertake counter deployments after China started amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since early May.
“At the heart of the matter is that since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.
“This is not in accordance with the provisions of our various bilateral agreements, especially the key 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas,” Srivastava said.
“This notes in particular that ‘each side will keep its military forces in the areas along the line of actual control to a minimum level compatible with friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries’,” he said.
“Obviously, the Indian side had to undertake counter deployments and the resulting tension has thereafter expressed itself,” he added.
New satellite images have revealed Chinese structures back at Galwan Valley, the site of the June 15 clashes that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.