protests(Eds: Updates with fresh inputs) New Delhi/Beijing, Dec 7 (PTI) An unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) of the Indian Army crashed around Dokalam in the Sikkimsector after it "crossed" the border into China following atechnical problem, prompting Beijing to lodge a diplomaticprotest with India.
Sources in Delhi said today that the Indian securityforces in Nathu La immediately informed the Chinese army overthe hotline about the UAV's technical problem and crossing theLine of Actual Control(LAC).
The Indian defence ministry said its border securitypersonnel, as per standard protocol, immediately alerted theirChinese counterparts to locate the UAV and they later revertedwith its location. It, however, did not give details of whenthe UAV had crashed but sources in Delhi said the incidenthappened around 10 days ago.
The incident comes to light days before Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi's visit to Delhi to attend the Russia-India-China trilateral meeting on December 11.
In Beijing, China's Defence Ministry and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs said that the Indian unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) crashed into the Chinese side of the border recently.
"Recently an Indian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) invadedChina's airspace and crashed in the Sikkim section of China-India border," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told amedia briefing here.
He said the Chinese border troops had taken a"professional and responsible attitude" to verify the device.
Geng did not spell out when the incident had taken place.
The Indian defence ministry said the exact cause of theincident is under investigation.
"An Indian UAV which was on a regular training missioninside the Indian territory lost contact with the groundcontrol due to some technical problem and crossed over (to)the LAC in the Sikkim Sector," it said in a statement releasedin Delhi.
It further said, "As per standard protocol, the Indianborder security personnel immediately alerted their Chinesecounterparts to locate the UAV. In response, the Chinese sidereverted with the location details of the UAV."Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman said, in an apparentreference to the 1890 China-British Treaty, said, "I want topoint out that the Sikkim section of the China India borderhas been delimited."Beijing often referred to the 1890 Britain-China treatyduring the lengthy Dokalam standoff, stating that it hasdefined the Sikkim section of the boundary with Tibet,therefore the border in that area has been settled.
"The action of the Indian side violated China'ssovereignty and it is not conducive to the peace andtranquillity of the border area and China is dissatisfied withthis and lodged solemn representation with the Indian side,"Geng said.
The armies of India and China were engaged in a 73-day-long standoff in Dokalam after Indian troops stopped Chinesesoldiers from building a key road in the area. The face-offended on August 28. Dokalam is located in the Sikkimsection of the India-China border.
In its diplomatic protest to India, "China asked theIndian side to stop the activities of the devices near theborder and work with China to maintain peace and tranquillityof the border areas", Geng said.
Earlier, the Chinese military alleged that an Indiandrone has "intruded" into its airspace recently and crashedinto the Chinese side of the border and voiced strongdissatisfaction over the incident.
The Indian UAV "intruded" into China's airspace andcrashed recently, and China's border troops have conductedidentification and verification over the vehicle, said ZhangShuili, deputy head of the combat bureau of the WesternTheatre Command's joint staff department.
The Chinese military's western theatre commandjurisdiction covers almost all of the LAC and includingTibet's border region with India and the Ladakh region.
"India's move has infringed upon China's territorialsovereignty, and we are strongly dissatisfied with and opposedto this," Zhang has been quoted by state-run Xinhua newsagency as saying.
Wang's visit to Delhi will be the first visit by a topChinese official to India after the Dokalam crisis andcommencement of the second five-year term for ChinesePresident Xi Jinping. PTI KJV/MPB MRJ ZH AKJGSN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.