"Today, you have a deployment of the Indian army on China border that we never had. It is done to counter Chinese aggression,” said Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
“The Indian Army is deployed to counter any attempt to unilaterally change LAC (Line of Actual Control)," added Jaishankar, referring to the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
Security officials pointed out that China has deployed more than 70,000 troops along the frontier in eastern Ladakh and continues to build infrastructure inside India-claimed friction points.
“The Chinese have also been mobilising more men and machinery into the Galwan Valley and other stand-off points, where both armies have carried out partial disengagement,” an army official told RFI.
“They have also deployed a large number of surveillance drones over the buffer zones created within India-claimed lines to keep an eye on the movements of Indian troops.”
Security officials pointed out that the Indian army had carried out a matching troop deployment considering the threat from the Chinese army.
The clashes on the border have led to a political uproar in India, with opposition parties walking out of parliament after their demand for an immediate discussion of the border situation was denied.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's main opposition Congress party, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led government of ignoring the threat from China.
“It is a full offensive preparation. The government of India is sleeping. It does not want to hear this, but they (China) are preparing not for an incursion, but for war,” Gandhi had said.
The two countries have fought only one war in 1962, when India suffered a defeat.
The military stand-off is mirrored by growing political tension, which has strained ties between both countries.