China said on Friday it was building infrastructure within its “sovereignty,” a day after New Delhi accused Beijing of building a bridge across a section of the strategically important Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh that it has illegally occupied for 60 years.

The Chinese foreign ministry dismissed India’s outrage over the new infrastructure in a disputed area, saying it was also aimed at maintaining peace and stability along the Sino-India border.

The verbal sparring over events in a sensitive and militarised region comes amid a 20-month-long border standoff between the two countries in eastern Ladakh, which has strained bilateral relations to their lowest point in decades.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for India’s external affairs ministry, said on Thursday that New Delhi has been closely monitoring China’s construction of a bridge across Pangong Lake.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto Sino-India border, runs through the lake, with China occupying part of it while India claims the rest.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, declined to go into detail in response to a question about the topic in Beijing on Friday, but said China was within its rights to build infrastructure on its soil.

“I’m not aware of the situation you’re referring to.” “I want to emphasise that China’s infrastructure construction on its soil is entirely within its sovereignty and is aimed at ensuring China’s territorial sovereignty, security, and peace and stability in the China-India border area,” Wang said.

Bagchi said in New Delhi on Thursday that the bridge is being built “…in areas that have been illegally occupied by China for around 60 years now.” India has never accepted such illegal occupation, as you are well aware.”

“Recent satellite imagery reveals that the Chinese bridge spanning a narrow section of the 134-kilometer-long lake is nearly finished. According to an HT report from New Delhi, “experts believe it will drastically reduce the time required by the Chinese side to move troops and equipment from in-depth bases to forward locations near the LAC.”

The Chinese official media rarely reports on specific infrastructure projects near the Indian border, but it does report on improvements to the living conditions and facilities for People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers stationed near the LAC.

In September, Chinese official media reported that the Western Theatre Command (WTC) will soon have 30 airports at its disposal in Xinjiang and Tibet, both of which are bordering India, to facilitate the movement of PLA personnel.

The WTC is the PLA’s largest military command, and it is in charge of the country’s disputed border with India. While some of these airports have already been constructed and are operational, the majority are still in the planning stages.

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