After several recent incursions in Ladakh, China has now flexed its muscles in Arunachal Pradesh, transgressing about 30 km inside Indian territory in Chaglagam sector in Anjaw district. Sources told Express that a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) patrol crossed the border and came face-to-face with an Indian Army patrol.
“They transgressed into about 30 km in our territory. Both the patrol team showed banners to each other claiming rights. The Indian Army asked the PLA to leave the area and return to their territory. So far both the Army and PLA are staying put at their respective positions in Chaglagam sector,” sources said.
An official said the Deputy GoC went on a recce sortie with two choppers to assess the ground situation. “We are hoping the PLA will retreat by Tuesday night or Wednesday as no tents were erected by them,” the official said, adding that due to lack of proper boundary demarcation such incidents were observed in the past too.
Last week, a Chinese patrol team entered the Indian territory near Tangkar La pass in Sikkim. Both the Indian and Chinese troops had then showed banners to each others claiming rights. However, the Chinese had retreated after sharing beers with the Indians.
Although the issue of Chinese incursions had rocked the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon session, Defence Minister A K Antony had played down the incidents and told the House that there was no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China and there were areas where both nations have different perceptions of the LAC.
“On account of differences in perception of LAC, transgressions do take place. The government regularly takes up any such incident with the Chinese,” Antony had said.