A week after detaining five Indian nationals inside their territory and releasing them after protest by New Delhi, the Chinese Army reportedly intruded into the Indian territory again and pitched tents in lepzhi area of ladakh. This area is close to Chumar sector near Himachal Pradesh. The Chinese have repeatedly intruded there to stake claim on the disputed area.
In the latest incident, about 20 Chinese soldiers intruded into the Indian territory in Chepzi and pitched seven to eight tents in the area last week. It was not known if they had returned to their position across the line of Actual Control(lAC). The Army Headquarters, however, categorically denied on Sunday that any such intrusion had taken place. When asked if the local commanders of the two Armies held a flag meeting on Thursday in Chumar regarding the intrusion, senior officials said it was a “routine meeting” to sort out an issue related to some animals straying from either side into each other’s territory.
Chepzi is close to Chumar area, which has been witness to a large number of incursions by the Chinese side in the last one year. The Chinese repeatedly intruded there as this is only sector in ladakh where the Indian Army holds all the vantage positions and the Chinese are slightly weak there as they do not have any direct access to the lAC. Incidentally, this incident came two months after a Border Defence Co-operation Agreement(BDCA) was signed between India and China during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing in October.
The agreement was aimed at speedily resolving issues of this kind at the local level in a peaceful and amicable manner. However, Defence Minister AK Antony recently warned that the new border pact does not guarantee that nothing will happen in these areas in future.
The pact was signed after a face-off between the Indian and Chinese Armies lasting over 20 days when the Chinese entered more than 19 kms inside ladakh in Depsang Valley region in April and pitched tents there. Hectic parleys at the diplomatic level then saw the Chinese withdrawing to their posts across the lAC and the Government had to face flak in Parliament for not taking effective action.