BEIJING: India on Friday warned China that trying to alter the status quo on the ground by resorting to force will not just damage the peace that existed on the border areas but can also have “ripples and repercussions” in the broader bilateral relationship, and demanded that Beijing stop its activities in eastern Ladakh.
The only way to resolve the current military standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh was for Beijing to realise that trying to “change the status quo by resorting to force or coercion, is not the right way forward,” India’s ambassador to China Vikram Misri said in a hard-hitting interview to PTI.
Asserting that actions taken by the Chinese forces on the ground have damaged “considerable trust” in the bilateral relationship, the Indian ambassador added that it was entirely the responsibility of the Chinese side to take a careful view of the relations and to decide which direction the ties should move.
Noting that maintenance of peace and tranquillity “on the border is sine qua non for progress in the rest of bilateral relationship between India and China”, Misri said: “The resolution of this issue is quite straight forward from our perspective. The Chinese side needs to stop creating obstruction and hindrances in the normal patrolling patterns of the Indian troops,” he said.
He also rubbished China’s cla