Now, Chinese army intrudes into Arunachal

New Delhi, Jun 14: Soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army of China recently intruded into the territory of India, after crossing the de facto border between the two nations.

Nearly 250 PLA soldiers crossed over the Line of Actual Control at Yangtze near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on June 9. They stayed put for a few hours and returned only after officials of the Indian Army took it up with their counterparts in the PLA, sources said in New Delhi.

The incident took place even as the complex relations between the two nations came under stress in the wake of China’s strong opposition to India’s bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It also came just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his high-profile visit to Washington DC, a visit that signalled greater strategic synergy between India and the US, especially in the Asia Pacific region.

The sources said that the situation was diffused within hours in accordance with the bilateral Border Defence Cooperation Agreement, 2013.

The incident on June 9 did not lead to a week-long stand-off as it had happened in the cases of similar incursions by the Chinese soldiers into Indian territories at Depsung Bulge and Chumar in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2013 and September 2014.

But the incursion did once again underline the need for demarcating the LAC in order to narrow differences between the border guarding troops of both the nations on the alignment of the line, an official, aware of India-China boundary negotiations, told the DH on Monday.

Though the LAC at present separates India and China in the absence of a mutually agreed boundary, differences in perceptions about the alignment of the line are often blamed for its transgressions and consequent tension and stand-offs.

President Pranab Mukherjee had a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 26 and agreed that while India and China must improve border management and ensure peace and tranquillity is maintained in border areas.