The Indian media spread rumors that the People's Liberation Army "crossed the line and was detained," and sources refute rumors: China's routine patrols were unreasonably blocked, and they resolutely countered and returned after completing their tasks

Source: Global Times

The 13th round of military commander-level talks aimed at resolving the border confrontation between the Chinese and Indian armies was held on 10 July at the Mordo meeting point on the Chinese side of the line of actual control between the two sides. The day before the talks, India's Army Chief of Staff Narawane accused Chinese troops of still "mass mass masse" in the border areas and strongly claimed that Indian troops would continue to be stationed there. Some Indian media took the opportunity to spread rumors and hype up the "crossing of the line and being detained" by PLA soldiers near the Line of Actual Control in southern Tibet. The Chinese side promptly dispelled and clarified the rumors. Meanwhile, Chinese social media shook India by releasing multiple images of Indian soldiers suspected of being "captured" in last year's Galwan Valley incident. Qian Feng, director of the research department of the National Strategic Research Institute of Tsinghua University, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 10th that these "belated" pictures are China's rational response to the Indian side's rumors, and the Chinese side never provokes trouble, does not want to stimulate the Indian side, and does not want to show off this battle result, but we are not afraid of any provocation.

Two rounds of disengagement operations have been conducted

According to the "Indian Express" reported on the 10th, the 13th round of Sino-Indian military commander-level talks was held on the same day in Mordo on the Chinese side of the line of actual control between the two sides. Indian sources said that the negotiations will involve how to solve the problem of friction points in the hot spring area of the Ladakh region in the western section of the China-India border.

According to the Hindustan Times, the standoff between Indian and Chinese militaries near the Line of Actual Control has lasted for 17 months. During the last round of talks in August, the two sides agreed to withdraw forward forces deployed at patrol point 17A goguera, after the two sides had previously withdrawn their troops and armaments from the Pangong Lake area in mid-February. Although the two sides have conducted two rounds of disengagement operations this year, their respective troops deployed in Ladakh still have 50,000 or 60,000 troops. Officials familiar with the talks said the talks were aimed at defusing tensions along the disputed Line of Actual Control, with a focus on reaching an agreement on disengagement of the confrontational forces deployed in the hot springs area. The hot springs area is one of the main points of friction between the two sides in the line of actual control, and the two sides have been in a state of confrontation in the area since May last year.

Qian Feng told the Global Times on the 10th that the 13th round of Sino-Indian military commander-level negotiations mainly focused on resolving the confrontation between patrol points in the western section of the Sino-Indian border. Since the disengagement between the two sides in the Pangong Lake area in February this year, the confrontation in the main areas has been eased, which is conducive to maintaining the stability of the border area at the current stage and facilitating the two sides to negotiate the next step of control measures in the western border area on the basis of complete disengagement. He said that China's position on the Sino-Indian border issue has not changed, that is, it has always been committed to maintaining peace and stability on the border and has continued to maintain stability in all sections while resolving the issue of disengagement between the two sides in the western sector.

The Chinese side refutes the Rumors in the Indian Media

Since the 2020 border clash between China and India in the Galwan Valley, relations between the two countries have continued to decline. In order to push China-India relations back on the right track, China has made various efforts, including providing strong support to India at a time when India is hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. On the border issue, the two countries have held 12 rounds of talks at the military commander level and have made some progress. However, when the 13th round of military commander-level negotiations was carried out, the Indian side's attitude was not so "right". The top level of the Indian military continues to release tough signals, and some Indian media have also taken the opportunity to hype up the rumor that "Chinese soldiers crossed the line to invade and were detained by the Indian side".

The Hindustan Times said that a day before the start of a new round of sino-Indian military-level talks, Indian Army Chief of Staff Naravane accused at a meeting: "The mass build-up of Chinese troops that began after the border dispute broke out last year is continuing." In order to support the build-up of troops, infrastructure construction on the Chinese side is also underway, which is worrying. That means they'll be there. If they were here, we would do the same. On our side, the build-up and infrastructure will do as well as the PLA. Naravane also proudly claimed that "the Indian army has rapid response capabilities" and that the confrontation between the two sides "has enabled the Indian army to achieve more goals in intelligence, early warning and other aspects in the past year, which is the driving force for the modernization of the Indian army."

Some Indian media have taken the opportunity to spread rumors and hype up the "crossing of the line" of PLA soldiers near the Line of Actual Control in southern Tibet. India's News18 website said on the 8th that "India thwarted the invasion of the Chinese army and briefly detained hundreds of PLA soldiers." The report quoted high-level Sources of the So-called Indian government as saying that about 200 Chinese soldiers "invaded" the Indian side last week and tried to destroy unoccupied bunkers, which were detained by the Indian military in Tawang. "Later the incident was resolved at the level of military commanders on both sides and Chinese soldiers were released." India Today, New Delhi Television and other Indian media also reported on the matter at large length.

Regarding the Indian side's statement, the plastered western theater official Wei Wei debunked the rumors on the evening of the 9th. According to sources in the Chinese army, on September 28, the Chinese border guards conducted a routine patrol of the Dongzhang area on the Chinese side of the Sino-Indian border as planned, but encountered unreasonable obstruction by the Indian side in the middle of the way, and the Chinese officers and men resolutely countered and returned after completing the patrol task. The source said that the recent speculation in the Indian media about the chinese soldiers being detained "crossing the line" is fictitious and inconsistent with the facts. In this incident, the Indian side deliberately provoked first, distorted and smeared later, seriously violated bilateral agreements and agreements, and the responsibility lies entirely with the Indian side. The people's liberation army media official weibo account "Jun Zhengping" posted on the 10th that the Indian media seem to have a special preference for fabricating and hyping up the Sino-Indian border issue, and from time to time they will render a tense atmosphere and stimulate populist sentiments. Such a practice is undoubtedly harmful to others and to oneself, and "I hope that the Indian media will pay attention to moderation in the future."

"Hindustan Times" said on the 9th that the Indian government clarified the relevant media reports that in this incident, no Chinese soldiers were detained, and no building facilities were damaged. According to the Indian Express, an Indian defense official said the incident was an "unexpected encounter" between the two sides.

Qian Feng said that the Dongzhang area is China's inherent territory, and it is completely reasonable and legal for us to patrol here and maintain border stability. The Indian side is clearly deliberately provocative on this issue. The Indian side was countered when blocking the Chinese troops, but instead took the opportunity to hype the so-called "Chinese border troops were detained across the line", reflecting that India has not yet learned from last year's border conflict.

A Global Times reporter recently went to a county on the Border between China and India to conduct an interview, and villagers in a local border village said that Indian soldiers repeatedly crossed the line to the vicinity of the village. The usual trick of the Indians is to write their slogans in English on large trees and large stones, hoping to encroach on Chinese territory by "brushing existence". Whenever they saw such a slogan, the villagers would erase all the content written by the Indians and write our slogan with Chinese.

"Standing with your body as a boundary monument to the motherland"

Just after the Indian media vigorously rumored and hyped up the REPORT that the PLA soldiers were "detained across the line", Chinese social media appeared on the 9th suspected of being "captured" Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley incident last year. Some photographs showed large numbers of Swollen Indian soldiers walking in the middle of a heavily armed PLA queue. The images were immediately widely disseminated in India and on the international internet and social media. Some Indian netizens refused to believe the pictures, and some people claimed: "These pictures are fake, Indians are not so dark." Some people also said: "Why don't Indian officials leak some photos of Chinese 'captives'?" Some Indian netizens lamented: "We have lost in the information war and the public opinion war, and we have not been able to fight back against these wrong information online." ”

Qian Feng said that for the Indian side's provocations and the Indian media's long-term irresponsible rumor-mongering, these pictures tell the Indian side, and also let the international community know that China has the determination and ability to defend its territory and maintain border peace and stability. He stressed that the Indian government has the ability to restrain the country's disinformation media. If the Indian side wants to maintain peace and stability along the Sino-Indian border and put Sino-Indian relations back on the right track, the Indian military and political departments should discipline some officials from "breaking news" in these media.

Among the photos circulating on the Internet, some officers and men on the frontline of our army's border defense have written petitions and suicide notes in blood. During an interview at the Sino-Indian border a few days ago, a reporter from the Global Times personally felt the determination of the officers and men of the Border Guard to defend the territory to the death. At a certain line post, the petitions of the soldiers were pasted on the wall along with the photos of the heroes of the battle in the Galwan Valley, and one soldier wrote in the invitation: "I invite the war, go to the place where there is no boundary monument on the front line, and use my body to stand as the boundary monument of the motherland!"