China has blamed India for the recent border tensions
China on Wednesday blamed India for violating border agreements and said India bore responsibility for the recent tensions_ a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that China had_ by amassing troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) this summer_ violated the 1993 and 1996 boundary agreements that have helped keep the peace along the border for years. The responsibility for the current situation does not lie with China_ Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing_ in response to a question on Mr. Singh s statement. Asked why China had not yet disengaged and withdrawn its troops to the status quo as of April_ prior to its transgressions_ Mr. Wang said: The most urgent and important task is for the Indian side to immediately correct its wrong course of action_ disengage on the ground as soon as possible_ and take concrete actions to promote easing of the situation. It is the Indian side that has violated the agreements_ first trespassed_ and first fired shots to threaten the safety of the Chinese border troops_ he said. On the five point consensus reached on September 10 by the two Foreign Ministers in Moscow_ he said China hopes India will work with China to follow through on the agreement and other previously reached agreements_ and put the border issue in an appropriate position in the bigger picture of China-India relations . On Wednesday_ the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Chinese troops had last week raised their combat readiness to the second-highest possible level after the firing of warning shots on September 7 near the south bank of Pangong Lake. The newspaper said the alert was lowered after a meeting of the nations foreign ministers in Moscow three days later. The second-highest of four levels of readiness prompts for increased deployments of troops to forward areas and stepping up of training exercises. The highest threat level is only for armed conflict. The newspaper said this was the first time the threat level had been raised to two along the border since 1987_ during a stand-off in Sumdorong Chu. Since the combat readiness level was raised_ commanders_ officers and soldiers have been working around the clock_ carrying out extra training and drills_ a military source told the newspaper. The PLA (People s Liberation Army) mobilised more troops and weapons systems to the Line of Actual Control in preparation for the worst.
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