India rebuts China’s claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley, calls it ‘untenable’

New Delhi, June 20: Rejecting China's claim of sovereignty over the Galwan Valley, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a strong rebuttal and stated that attempts by Beijing to now advance "exaggerated and untenable claims" with regard to Line of Actual Control there are not acceptable.

"The position with regard to the Galwan Valley area has been historically clear. Attempts by the Chinese side to now advance exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to Line of Actual Control (LAC) there are not acceptable. They are not in accordance with China's own position in the past," said MEA Official Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

"Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in all sectors of the India-China border areas, including in the Galwan Valley. They abide by it scrupulously here, as they do elsewhere. The Indian side has never undertaken any actions across the LAC. In fact, they have been patrolling this area for a long time without any incident. All infrastructure built by the Indian side is naturally on its own side of the LAC."

Earlier, the PMO issued a statement after opposition parties latched onto Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that India did not suffer any intrusion by the Chinese in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

20 Indian soldiers were killed at the valley when a six-week border standoff with China escalated violently on the night of June 15, triggering massive tensions between the two countries.