India Thursday accused China of stirring tension in the border region, by deploying huge numbers of soldiers and large quantities of weapons along the disputed border sector in the Himalayas.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that the core of the issue is that since early May last, the Chinese side has been mobilizing a large contingent of soldiers and weapons along the actual border line between the two countries.
This "does not comply with the provisions of our multiple bilateral agreements," including a 1993 treaty that obliges both sides to reduce forces at the border, the ministry spokesman, Anuraj Srivastava, told a news conference in New Delhi.
Srivastava said that India had also deployed huge numbers of troops along the actual line of control in response to the growing Chinese presence.
Meanwhile, Indian Army Commander General Mango Mukund Narwani inspected his country's forces in the Ladakh border region with China.
China Responds For
its part, China blamed India for the fatal clash that took place last week, the fiercest between the two nuclear neighbors for at least 5 years, and said that Indian forces attacked Chinese officers and soldiers.
After negotiations between top military leaders this week, the two sides have since agreed to settle the standoff in the disputed border area.
But new satellite imagery showed that China apparently added new facilities near the site of the border clash with India.
And Britain's BBC reported Thursday that satellite imagery last month showed there were no facilities in the area.
The border region of Dakhla witnessed a major escalation between India and China, after weeks of tension on the border between the two countries.
On May 5, skirmishes began virtually in the Jalwan Valley, in the Ladakh border region, but culminated on June 15 with the killing of 20 Indian army personnel.
The tension between the two countries dates back more than 7 decades, as China claims that India occupies 90 thousand square kilometers of land in northeast India.