China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has again sought to accuse troops of the 16th Bihar Regiment of triggering the violent June 15 border clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and wants India to punish the unit.

“The Chinese side demands that India should severely punish those who are accountable for the clash on the evening of June 15, and work with China together to maintain the peace in border region…. The Chinese side demands that India should severely punish those who should be held accountable, strictly discipline its frontline troops so as to ensure that such incidents do not happen again,” PLA senior colonel and defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said on Wednesday in Beijing.

By demanding action specifically against “those who are accountable for the clash” and blaming “frontline troops” and at the same time promising to work with India, the PLA appears to be suggesting two things: that the flare-up was the result of a “rogue” mission and that China’s issues lie with the unit, not with the Indian government or the Indian armed forces.

The 16th Bihar Regiment was led by Col Santosh Babu, who was among those killed on June 15.

“On the evening of June 15, India’s front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the corps commander-level meeting, once again crossed the LAC for deliberate provocation, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties,” Wu said.

In its first comment on the clash on June 16, the Indian external affairs ministry had blamed China and said the violent face-off happened “as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there”. The ministry had also underscored that the Indian army’s activities were within the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.

Four days later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech with ambiguities about any possible intrusion that gifted China’s propaganda machine a chance to claim vindication.

The Prime Minister had remained silent on June 16, when the deaths were made public, but paid tributes to the fallen soldiers the following day. “Their supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten…. India is proud of the valour of our armed forces,” Modi had said.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister told an event linked to Bihar that “I will say every Bihari is proud of the valour of the Bihar Regiment”.

By then, Chinese outlets had translated that part of Modi’s June 19 speech in which he had said: “Neither has anyone intruded into our frontier there (Ladakh)....”

Although the PMO later clarified that Modi was speaking about the post-June 15 situation, Chinese agencies have tried to gain the maximum mileage from the statement, which gave an impression that the Prime Minister was agreeing with Beijing’s stand.

On Wednesday, Wu claimed that Indian soldiers had crossed the border, provoked PLA soldiers and attacked them. “India should bear the full responsibility for the incident that was solely and completely triggered by its breach of consensus and unilateral provocations,” Wu said.

On June 15 evening, Col Babu and his troops had gone to see whether the Chinese side had disengaged itself from the Indian side in the Galwan Valley where the PLA had transgressed and set up a makeshift tent.

The clash took place after he dismantled the tent. Indian army sources said that during the June 6 military-level talks, the two sides had decided that the tent would be removed.