Indian troops foiled two incursion bids by Chinese Army into Demchok and Chumar sectors of ladakh in the last three to four days. The intruding patrol returned to its side across the line of Actual Control (lAC) after a brief stand off with Indian Army and ITBP jawans who displayed banners saying Chinese were inside Indian territory.
These two bids took place even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President li Jinping were holding talks on the sidelines of BRICS summit in Brazil on Tuesday regarding the long standing boundary dispute between the two countries. The two leaders called for early resolution of the dispute.
In the Demchok incident which took place at a place called Charding Nilu Nullah Junction (CNNJ), Chinese troops came in jeeps around 5.00 am on Tuesday and insisted on patrolling it and claimed it was their territory, officials said here on Wednesday.
However, the Army and ITBP patrol stopped them and a 30-minute stand-off ensued wherein the Indian side showed banners informing Chinese that they were in Indian area. Banner drill is mutually agreed measure between the two countries to prevent any flare up on the lAC and the Chinese troops returned after Indian insistence, they said.
The second bid on July 11 saw Chinese troops trying to intrude on horseback into Chumar located on ladakh-Himachal Pradesh. The combined team of Army and ITBP reacted quickly and blocked the Chinese patrol. It resulted in 10 to 15-minute face-off between the two armies and Chinese returned after the banner drill by India, officials said.
Unlike many other sectors in ladakh where the Indian Army is at a disadvantage vis-à-vis China, Chumar due to superior road infrastructure has allowed India to dominate. In fact, this sector has seen couple of incursions by the Chinese through land and air in the last two to three years and India has lodged protest through proper diplomatic channel besides taking up the incidents at the local commander level.