The Army on Sunday rejected the reports that some Indian soldiers were detained by the Chinese Army. “There has been no detention of Indian soldiers at the borders. We categorically deny this. It only hurts national interests when media outlets publish unsubstantiated news”, read the Army statement.
Amid tensions between India and China along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) there were reports that an Indian patrolling party was detained and later released by the Chines Army after a skirmish broke out between the two sides in Ladakh, earlier in May.
According to NDTV sources, both the Indian and Chinese sides had a border meeting where the commanders of the two sides had a talk and the situation was brought under control.
The incident took place along the Pangong Tso lake area.
“Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops. The two sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at local level”, said the army statement.
“Temporary and short duration face-offs between border guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved. Incident of face off as referred to in the article did take place. Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols,” the statement read.
“The situation became very volatile last Wednesday when a scuffle between Indian jawans and the Chinese resulted in detention of some of our jawans but later they were released,” NDTV quoted a senior bureaucrat as saying.
The Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane had on Friday visited Leh, the headquarters of 14 Corps in Ladakh to review the operational situation, a day after the Government on Thursday denied China’s claims that India is carrying out any activity in violation of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and Sikkim.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has erected a sizeable number of tents in the Galwan Valley of the Union Territory of Ladakh – an area over which India is sensitive about since the showdown in the 1962 war. In the first week of May, 250 Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area, partly under Indian control.
Chinese intrusions took place at three places in the Galwan area,inside Indian territory, according to The Indian Express sources. Chinese troops have crossed the LAC at Hot Springs and in two locations 15-20 km to the north-west, Patrolling Point 14 (PP-14) and PP-15.
India had on May 21 rejected Beijing’s allegation that Indian troops crossed over to the Chinese side of the frontier in Ladakh and Sikkim while claiming that it was, in fact, the Chinese side that had recently undertaken activity at the border hindering India’s normal patrolling pattern.
”Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western Sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had asserted, adding all Indian activities were entirely on the Indian side of the LAC.
China has recently accused India of unilaterally attempting to change the status of the un-demarcated border in Ladakh after troops of the two countries were involved in scuffles at Ladakh and Sikkim in which more than ten of them were injured.
In the second week of May, around 150 soldiers of both sides had a face-off near Naku La Pass in Sikkim. In both the incidents, soldiers sustained injuries. Both India and China have now deployed addition troops both in tense areas of Galwan valley, Pangong Tso lake and several areas in northern Sikkim.
Two days later, the Air Force rushed its fighter jet patrols in Ladakh after Chinese military choppers were found to be flying close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Indian armed forces have accused Chinese army of blocking patrols and unnecessarily erecting tents and deploying forces at Sikkim and Ladakh inside Indian territory on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries.
The spokesperson said that Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously.
The Indian side has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management, Srivastava said adding that the government at the same time, is deeply committed to ensuring India’s sovereignty and security.
The Indian troops strictly follow the procedures laid down in various bilateral agreements and protocols to resolve any situations which may arise due to difference in the perception of the LAC.
The spokesperson said India and China have established mechanisms to resolve such situations peacefully through dialogue. Both sides remain engaged with each other to address any immediate issues, he added.
Recalling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, in their meeting at Chennai last year, had agreed to resolve such issues through dialogue, the spokesperson said Indian side remains firmly committed to work for the common objective of maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas. “This is an essential prerequisite to the further development of Indian-China bilateral relations,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Indian Army chief had stated that temporary face-offs do occur along the LAC with China due to the differing perceptions of the alignment of boundaries.
Issuing a statement following incidents of skirmishes along the LAC with China, he said, “Temporary and short duration face-offs between border guarding troops do occur along the LAC due to the differing perceptions of the alignment of boundaries which are not resolved.”
Earlier, in September 2019, Indian and Chinese troops on the bank of the Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh got involved in a scuffle which was soon resolved through talks between both the Armies.
Earlier, the two counties were in news in June 2017 when India opposed China’s road building at Doklam Plateau that made the entire Sikkim and the “Chicken Neck” near Siliguri (connecting the North-east with the mainland) easily accessible to the Chinese army.
India moved its elite strike corps near Sikkim border to counter the Chinese army’s war drills in Tibet. The dispute ended after 73 days when Chinese People’s Liberation Army and Indian Army withdrew their troops from the disputed site.
It is in India’s geo-political interest to protect its territorial sovereignty from a possible Chinese aggression in future that its Army needs to maintain the military vigil in the area.