The government yesterday alleged Chinese soldiers have advanced nearly 20kms into Indian-claimed territory after intruding across the disputed border earlier this month, a report said.

Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and other military officials presented a report on the incursion to a parliamentary watchdog, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported, marking a renewal of tensions between the Asian neighbours.

Sharma also told MPs attending the meeting that India has deployed troops in the contested region to “keep a close watch on the border”, it quoted unnamed sources as saying.

India and China have an unresolved boundary dispute, and relations are often prickly and marked by mutual suspicion- a legacy of a brief border war in 1962.

A senior defence ministry official confirmed the meeting took place and that Sharma briefed MPs on the alleged Chinese advance but he did not elaborate.

“The officials told the committee that Indian army patrols reported on April 16 the presence of Chinese People’s Liberation Army pitching tents 19kms inside the LAC (Line of Actual Control),” PTI quoted a source as saying.

The LAC is the de facto border that runs across the Himalayas.

The meeting came a day after Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid announced he would head for China on May 8, saying both countries had a mutual interest in not allowing the dispute to “destroy” long-term progress in ties.

Khurshid has tried to play down the tension, saying, “We have expressed our view and concern to the Chinese government through their ambassador in Delhi. The first two rounds of the flag meet have not given us any sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. There are other rounds in process and the important thing from both sides is that it is and must remain an isolated incident and should not spill over into the larger spectrum of our relationship with China.”

A foreign ministry official also confirmed reports that the new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would travel to New Delhi late next month, without giving an exact date.

Lower-level talks have so far failed to break the impasse in the dispute in the western part of Kashmir’s Ladakh region.

According to officials in New Delhi, a platoon of Chinese troops set up a camp inside Indian territory on April 15.

India has since called on the Chinese soldiers to withdraw, but several meetings between local army commanders and diplomats from both sides have failed to resolve the stand-off.

China has denied any wrongdoing. “China’s troops have never crossed the (LAC) line. China and India are neighbours and the boundary is not demarcated yet,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, emphasising the need to end the dispute through “friendly consultations.”

In 1962, China gave India a bloody nose in the war fought in the Himalayan regions of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

Small incursions are not uncommon across the LAC but it is rare for either country to set up camps in disputed territory.

In recent years, the two countries have increased their military presence on each side of the border and hold frequent meetings to defuse tensions. Despite the border tensions, trade between the Asian giants has soared in recent years.

Meanwhile Opposition parties have already attacked the government for what it calls its “weak handling” of the situation.

The BJP has accused the Congress-led UPA government of being unable to stand up to Beijing and has written to the parliamentary panel asking for a detailed report on the situation.

 

 

 

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