China has termed Union Minister VK Singh's comment on India "transgressing the LAC (Line of Actual Control)" as an "unwitting confession".
On Sunday, VK Singh, a former Army chief, had made the remarks to a question on the China border row when he was visiting Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
"With China our border has never been demarcated. Over a period of time, there have been transgressions where China says this is my perception of the LAC. Similarly, none of you come to know how many times we have transgressed as per our perception. We don't announce it. Chinese media doesn't cover it. But let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, as per our perception," Mr Singh told reporters.
The Minister of State was also quoted as saying that China had been attempting to expand its area by taking advantage of its perception of the LAC, but the government had ensured that this did not happen.
Reacting to the statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said "India's transgressions" were the root cause of tensions at the de-facto border between the two countries.
"This is an unwitting confession by the Indian side. For a long time, the Indian side has conducted frequent acts of trespass in the border area in an attempt to encroach on China's territory and constantly created disputes and frictions, which is the root cause of the tensions at the China-India border," Wang Wenbin said.
"We urge the Indian side to follow through on the consensus, agreements and treaties it reached with China, and uphold peace and stability in the border region with concrete actions," he added.
India and China have been locked in a standoff at eastern Ladakh along the LAC since May and the row escalated in June when 20 soldiers were killed in action in a clash with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley.
India says China must return to status quo for border talks to succeed.
Last week, the foreign ministry said India and China had a "candid and in-depth exchange of views" on disengagement along the LAC and the next round of meeting between senior commanders would be held soon.
India's objective was to ensure complete disengagement from all friction areas along LAC, said foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.
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