The Indian Army on Saturday rejected social media claims that Chinese forces had defeated Indian troops, advanced into Arunachal Pradesh, and established Chinese control over Indian territory, saying these false statements were being amplified to promote a misleading narrative.
“Several suspected Pak-sponsored social media accounts are circulating misleading claims that Chinese forces have severely defeated Indian troops, advanced nearly 50 km into Arunachal Pradesh and established PLA control over Indian territory,” it said. “These false claims are being amplified in a coordinated manner to promote a misleading anti-Indian Army narrative.”
The Army also urged people to verify border-related claims through credible and official sources before sharing information. This came months after reports of a standoff between Chinese and Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh surfaced in July. The Indian government also identified six handles that were found to have circulated such misleading claims between November 6 and 7 to create an anti-Indian Army narrative.
Last month, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said that the Shaurya platoon was successfully dealing with a “face-off”.
There our Shaurya commando teams did really exceedingly well. A video clip of his remarks was widely circulated online, triggering questions by the Opposition. “Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control.
These reports surfaced before India and China held the first round of talks between military commanders in the eastern sector in Arunachal Pradesh on September 6 and 7, days before Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to India after seven years to attend the BRICS Summit during September 12-13.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns. The two sides have also agreed to discuss ways to improve understanding of LAC in appropriate areas for better border management,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said. In his address to the troops in Rajasthan’s Alwar at a felicitation ceremony on Thursday, ITBP Director General Kapur purportedly said: “In recent days, there was a situation in Arunachal Pradesh where there was a face-off at different locations, which is still continuing.
