China on Tuesday has denied a media report that its soldiers intruded into Indian territory in the Kashmir region last fall and threatened Indian construction workers.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Tuesday that Chinese border guards had not crossed a border between the countries in the Himalayan region in northern India.
"Chinese border personnel have respected the two agreements between the two countries on maintaining peace and tranquility in the border area, and have never crossed the Line of Actual Control," he said during a regular news conference.
The Press Trust of India reported Monday that Chinese troops entered Indian territory last September, threatening an Indian contractor and his workers building a bus station in India's Leh region near the boundary that divides India and China. Construction had since been halted, it said.
India's External Affairs Ministry said Monday the media report was baseless. "It will be recollected that there are differences in perception between India and China on the Line of Actual Control in this area," a ministry statement said.
New Delhi says China is illegally occupying 15,000 square miles (38,000 square kilometers) of its northwestern territory, while Beijing claims a 35,000-square mile (90,000 square-kilometer) chunk in northeastern India. Border areas are lingering issues of tension between the countries, which have conducted more than 14 rounds of talks to resolve disputes.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Washington Post
