India-China to handle overall situation notwithstanding blaming and counter-blaming

New Delhi, June 18: Notwithstanding the blaming and counter-blaming, India and China have agreed to handle the overall situation along the Line of Control, where violent skirmishes were reported on Monday night.

Both sides have agreed to deal with the issue in a responsible manner and resolve the standoff in accordance with the understanding reached by the two military commanders on June 6.

New Delhi conveyed to Beijing that the violent attack at the Galwan Valley would have a serious impact on the relations between the two nations. External Affairs minister, S Jaishankar spoke with his counterpart Wang Yi.

During the conversation, Jaishankar said that the attack reflected the intent to change the facts on the ground in violation of all bilateral agreements on not changing the status quo.

Meanwhile, India reacted sharply to the Chinese Foreign Ministry claiming Galwan Valley and asserted that this was an exaggerated and untenable claim. New Delhi also reminded Beijing about the phone conversation between the two foreign ministers, who had agreed that the situation must be handled in a responsible manner.

The two ministers also agreed that the understanding reached by the two military commanders on June 6 must be implemented sincerely.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava in a midnight rebuttal said that making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to the understanding.

Colonel Zhang Shuili, the spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army's Western Theatre Command was the first to claim Galwan Valley within hours of the Indian Army confirming that soldiers of the two armies had clashes. The officer had accused Indian soldiers of crossing the line, but he also insisted that China always own sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region.

This statement by the Chinese officer was read out by the Chinese Foreign Ministry during its daily briefing. The midnight rebuttal by India was to set the record straight since the Chinese Foreign Ministry had only vetted the PLA version.

On Monday night a violent clash broke out between the two armies at Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred and 76 more wounded. There have been claims that 43 Chinese soldiers were also killed. The US intelligence however claimed that 35 Chinese soldiers had died.