August 31, 2020: In yet another flare-up at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army thwarted an attempt of the Chinese troops to carry out “provocative military movements to change the status quo” in the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh.

The incident at the LAC took place overnight between August 29 and 30, the Defence Ministry statement read on Monday. A Brigade Commander-level meet is currently on at Chushul to resolve the issue.

The Defence Ministry said in its statement, “On the night of 29/30 August 2020, PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.”

“Indian troops pre-empted this PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground,” the Ministry of Defence statement read.

It said that the Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility through dialogue, but is also “equally determined to protect its territorial integrity”.

On developments along the LAC, sources in the Indian Army said, “Chinese Army had tried to transgress into Indian areas using sizeable number of troops but Indian Army pre-empted the Chinese attempt and foiled their move.”

India had last week said a complete disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh can be achieved only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC and this can be done only through mutually agreed actions.

China, meanwhile, had said that India should look at the “big picture” of bilateral ties and work with it and take concrete steps to bring the relationship back on the “right track of normal development." Beijing said New Delhi should put the border issue in an appropriate position in this "big picture" and “avoid misjudgement”.

Asked for his comments on the current situation at the India-China border at the monthly online media briefing, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian had claimed that progress had been made in the disengagement of the frontline troops of India and China in eastern Ladakh due to efforts from both sides.