The Indian Army on Sunday rejected a video doing the rounds on social media purportedly of the ongoing standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“The contents of video being circulated are not authenticated. Attempt to link it with the situation on the Northern borders is mala fide,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement. “Currently no violence is happening,” he stated.
The video shows a large number of Indian security personnel armed with batons and ‘police’ shields next to a lake shouting and collecting stones as some soldiers are seen coming from the hill top some distance away. One security person is seen shielding what appears to be an injured Chinese soldier. Both the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police operate along the LAC.
Condemning attempts to ‘sensationalise’ issues impacting national security, the spokesperson said differences were being addressed through interaction between military commanders, guided by established protocols on management of borders between the two countries. He also requested the media to not air visuals that were “likely to vitiate the current situation on the borders .”
There have been at least two instances of scuffles and injuries acknowledged by the Army at the beginning of this month, on May 5 at Pangnong Tso and on May 9 at Naku La in North Sikkim. A large number of soldiers were injured on both incidents on both the sides which the Army said had been resolved at the local level. The standoff has since expanded to several points along the LAC in Ladakh with no signs of resolution while Chinese troops have made ingress into Indian territory at several points and pitched tents.
On Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the situation would be resolved through diplomacy and talks were on both at military and diplomatic levels. The government has so far not stated what the ground situation is or what is being attempted to be resolved.
