Urge China to 'sincerely engage' in restoring peace along LAC: India

This comes after an attempt by Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo in the South Bank of Pangong Lake on the night of Aug 29 and early morning on Aug 30.

This was the first attempt by China to trespass at the LAC since the deadly border clash took place between soldiers of the two Asian giants at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Jun 15 night.

In the first deadly clash in a time span of over 40 years, at least 20 Indian personnel were martyred.

Speaking at a virtual media briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: "We reiterate the consensus reached between the two Foreign Ministers and SRs that the situation in the border should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters."

He said it is clear that the situation witnessed over the past four months is a direct result of the "actions taken by the Chinese side that sought to effect unilateral change of status quo."

"These actions resulted in violation of the bilateral agreements and protocol which ensured peace and tranquillity in the border areas for close to three decades," said Srivastava.

He noted that the way ahead is negotiations, both through the diplomatic and military channels.

"The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue," he observed.

"We therefore strongly urge the Chinese side to sincerely engage the  Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring the peace and tranquility in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols," Srivastava added.