Flatly rejecting India’s territorial claims as set forth in its note, the Chinese note continued: “The Indian Government, in this note, not only refuses to withdraw its military strong points and intruding troops, but fraudulently contends that it is responsible for the protection of the areas into which it has intruded. This further shows that India is determined to encroach on Chinese territory. What the Indian Government now seeks is to provoke bloody conflicts.”

The Chinese note said: “The Indian note again repeats the fallacy that large tracts of territory in the Western sector of the Sino-Indian boundary, which have always belonged to China, are part of Indian territory. The Chinese Government in previous notes has refuted in detail this completely groundless attitude. A lie is after all a lie and a truth a truth. A lie can never be turned into a truth no matter how often the Indian Government repeats it.”

It said the Indian note had admitted that few Indian strong points had been set up in Chinese territory, and had described “normal patrols by Chinese frontier guards as aggressive patrolling intended for encircling Indian soldiers”. — Agencies