Former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao has warned there is a "bad moon rising" in India-China relations, following news of the fatal clash at Ladakh between the two sides that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Nirupama Rao had served as India's ambassador to China and the US.
The official #PLA statement on the tragic #Galwan face-off is worth scrutiny: it refers to the Galwan Valley as being “on the China-Indian border” and that the Indian Army “crossed” the #LAC and “violated their commitments”. 1/n
— Nirupama Menon Rao, निरुपमा राउ, بینظیر (@NMenonRao) June 16, 2020
Commenting on Twitter, Nirupama Rao paid attention to the statement issued by China's People's Liberation Army on the clash at Galwan in Ladakh. PLA western theatre command spokesperson Colonel Zhang Shiuli issued a statement late on Tuesday that “The sovereignty over the Galwan valley area has always belonged to China." The move had surprised Indian observers as China had not made such a claim earlier. Though the 1962 war with China started with the PLA overwhelming Indian defenders at Galwan, the area had been peaceful since then until May.
Analysing the statement of the PLA, Nirupama Rao noted, "it refers to the Galwan valley as being 'on the China-Indian border' and that the Indian Army 'crossed' the LAC and 'violated their commitments'". Rao noted, "It says that the sovereignty of the Galwan valley has always been China’s. The statement uses the words 'seriously violated' twice in its reference to Indian troops having 'seriously violated the agreements between the two countries on border issues' and 'seriously violated' the consensus reached in the Chinese-Indian commander-level talks, and seriously damaging the relations between the two armies and the feelings of the two peoples..."
Opining on the PLA statement, Nirupama Rao noted China's "gloves are off". She tweeted, "Chinese statement minces no words. The gloves are off. It is in tradition of communications received from Chinese after border dispute erupted in 1959 & there were skirmishes in Western & Eastern Sectors. Both Indian Army & MEA statements of Tuesday sound much milder, almost anodyne."
She argued, "Chinese always present themselves as injured party & blame opposite side for the consequences. A dark hour like this with all the blood that has been shed is suc a dreadful tragedy. Efforts made for normalization since 1976 have come to nought." and warned "There’s a bad moon rising on India China relations".
