Against the backdrop of the massive troop buildup along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh and several skirmishes between China’s PLA and the Indian Army since May, the Centre on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that “no infiltration has been reported along the India-China border during the last six months.”
Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply that since February there had been 47 cases of attempted infiltration along the India-Pakistan border and added that “no infiltration has been reported along India-China border during the last six months.”
BJP MP Anil Agarwal asked the Upper House in a written question whether it was a fact that cases of infiltration from Pakistan and China had increased in the last six months.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that China had mobilised a large number of troops and armament along the LAC as well as in the “depth areas.” He said the LAC was not commonly delineated.
Singh said that in early May, the Chinese side took action to hinder the normal, traditional patrolling pattern of Indian troops in the Galwan valley area, causing a face-off.
However, MHA officials said the answer by Nityanand Rai is not in conflict with what Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said. “Infiltration as terminology is associated with terrorists or action where a hostile element sneaks into our territory and moves to the hinterland,” a senior official said.
MHA officials added that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also spoken about attempted transgressions by Chinese troops in his address to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had in May categorically stated at an all-party meeting that “neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured”, post which the PMO had to clarify that the “observation that there was no Chinese presence on our side of the LAC pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces”.