Chinese troops violate LAC in Ladakh

Jammu, July 21

Amidst bonhomie exhibited by Beijing, around 100 Chinese troops breached the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh yet again and held banners asking the Indian troops to vacate “their” territory.

“They carried out the latest misadventure for two days last week in Chumar sector — on the southern end of eastern Ladakh,” said an Army source.

The officer said the latest incursion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) resulted in a face-off. “They crossed the LAC and held banners asking us to vacate ‘occupied’ territory and go back. There was a face-off but status quo was restored on July 18 via set mechanisms of peace and tranquility diplomacy in place along the Indo-China border,” he said.

China had started showing a lot of interest in the Chumar region lately, he said. “They have become more active in that area.” The incursion led to an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two armies after which the Chinese troops retreated.

“The matter has been conveyed to the Army Headquarters, Defence Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office and the External Affairs Ministry,” he said. A meeting with Chinese officials, including the area commanders, had been sought at Spanggur Gap, he added.

On April 15-16, around 50 troops of the PLA had intruded 19 km into the Indian Territory in Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector in Ladakh and pitched tents. The same night, two Chinese helicopters flew into DBO sector supervising the intrusion by the PLA troops.

The Indian Army had rushed a contingent of 60 troops of Ladakh Scouts to the area, resulting in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation between the two sides for three weeks before the stalemate ended on May 5 after hectic diplomatic exercises.

On June 12, the Indian Army detained three persons of Chinese origin along the LAC in the Sultanchusku area of Leh district.

On June 17, Chinese troops intruded into Chumar sector and vandalised some observation bunkers besides damaging a surveillance camera. The broken camera was returned to the Army at a flag meeting on July 3 in the Chushul area, a day before Defence Minister AK Antony flew to China to enhance “strategic cooperative partnership” and jointly maintain “peace and tranquility” along the LAC. On July 14, the Chinese again violated Indian airspace in Chumar sector when two of its helicopters surveyed the area “satisfactorily” before returning to their territory.