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A day after United States Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin said that China is continuing to harden its position along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe said on Sunday that the two nations are working together for peace along the LAC. Chinese Defence Minister emphasized that China and India are neighbours and maintaining a good relationship meets the interests of both countries.
On Saturday, US Defence Secretary said that America stands by its friends as they uphold their rights as Beijing adopts the "war coercive" and "aggressive approach" to its territorial claims.
While attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Lloyd Austin said that China is taking aggressive and illegal approaches to the territories it claims in the South China Sea and advancing its illegal maritime plans. "Further to the West, we see Beijing continuing to harden the position along the borders it shares with India," he said.
Meanwhile, addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday, Wei called for peaceful means for settling territorial disputes including those in the South China Sea. “China and India are neighbours and maintaining a good relationship meets the interests of both countries. And that is what we are working on," he said.
On the conflict on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, Wei notified that “we have had 15 rounds of talks at commander level with the Indians and we are working together for peace in this area."
It is important to note that the Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5, 2020, following a violent clash between the two sides in the Pangong lake area. Additionally, China has reportedly been building bridges and constructing other infrastructure such as roads and residential units in the border areas with India.
Recent reports emerged suggesting that the Chinese Air Force is maintaining the deployment of over two dozen frontline aircraft at its Hotan air base near Eastern Ladakh sector.
Indian agencies are keeping a close eye on the activities of the People's Liberation Army's Air Force (PLAAF) that has spread all along the Line of Actual Control with India opposite to Ladakh in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.
Along with Hotan, the agencies are also keeping a close eye on Gar Gunsa, Kashghar, Hopping, Dkonka Dzong, Linzhi and Pangat airbases of the PLAAF in the Xinjiang and Tibet region. The Chinese PLAAF has been upgrading these bases in recent times with the construction of hardened shelters, the extension of runway lengths and the deployment of additional manpower to carry out more operations.