‘We are monitoring the situation’: MEA on reports of bridge coming up in Pangong’s ‘occupied’ area

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A day after reports of China building the second bridge across Pangong in eastern Ladakh, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said he is aware of these reports and he was not sure if it is the second bridge or an expansion of the first one. Bagchi said that we monitor such developments and the ministry could not comment on it from a military perspective. “Implications and details can only be given by the Ministry of Defence. Will share if there is any update,” Bagchi said.

“We have seen reports on this bridge or a second bridge... we are monitoring the situation. Of course, we always felt it was occupied… Talks on with the Chinese side," Bagchi said on Thursday.

Speaking about Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to India in March, he said, "The external affairs minister (S Jaishankar) had said while talking to the media subsequently that the friction and tensions that arise from China's deployments since April 2020 cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship between two neighbours,".

"You are also aware that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was here in March this year and the external affairs minister conveyed our expectations to him," he said.