Chinese military on Monday said that it strongly demands India to withdraw its troops from the China-India border in order to avoid escalation of tensions, reported Reuters.

India and China have been negotiating a complete disengagement at the Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh since tensions at the border reached an all-time high on June 15, in which 20 soldiers of the Indian Army were killed after a violent clash with Chinese soldiers.

Earlier on Monday, Indian authorities reported that Chinese troops had violated the agreement between the two countries by carrying out provocative military movements to change the status quo. 

Colonel Aman Anand, PRO of India said, “Indian troops pre-empted People Liberation Army(PLA) activity on the Southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake,” adding that the Indian army had similarly undertaken measures to strengthen their positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on the ground.

The escalation of rhetoric comes after both countries have held repeated meetings to diplomatically solve the border crisis, with the last meeting having been conducted on August 8. During the military talks conducted since June 15 incident, India has pressed for “complete disengagement” from Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh.

Both countries have been negotiating a “mutual consensus to disengage” from all “frictional areas” along the line of control since the escalation in June.

Last week India had stated that a complete disengagement in eastern Ladakh required the redeployment of troops by each side, towards their regular posts on the respective sides of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India and China have been sparring over border disputes at the Galwan valley and Pangong Lake in Ladakh since May.  Tensions between the two countries had erupted into border skirmishes in May.

Tensions had also spread to the eastern border area of Sikkim’s Naku area resulting in a confrontation between soldiers of the two countries in May.

Both nations had been quick to move soldiers to their border areas, with India accusing China of a significant build-up of troops along the Line of Actual Control.

A violent border skirmish between the two nations took place on June 15, where “no shots were fired” but lead to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and several casualties also on the Chinese side.