Chinese troops come inside Indian territory in eastern Ladakh: Report

India has conducted “mirror deployment” on its side to match moves made by the Chinese forces in eastern Ladakh, according to a report.

The Chinese troops have “come in” about three kilometres inside Indian territory South East of the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, ThePrint has reported.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Contrary to inputs of a large number of Chinese troops positioned at Galwan Valley, their presence is within the Chinese Claim Line (CCL), the report further suggests. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

India has conducted “mirror deployment” on its side to match moves made by the Chinese forces, the report adds.

The report adds that Chinese troops have not crossed the CCL in these areas. However, they did accept that these locations were about three km within India’s perception of the LAC.

Reports earlier suggested that the Chinese military was fast increasing its troops in areas around Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley along the LAC in Ladakh, sending a clear signal that it was not ready to end its confrontation with the Indian Army anytime soon.

A report by news agency PTI has suggested that the Chinese had bolstered its presence in the Galwan Valley by erecting around 100 tents in the last two weeks and bringing in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers, notwithstanding the stiff protest by Indian troops.

In the midst of the escalating tension, Army Chief General MM Naravane paid a quiet visit to the headquarters of 14 Corps in Leh on May 22 and reviewed with the top commanders the overall security scenario in the region including in the disputed areas along the LAC — the de-facto border between India and China.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage" following a meeting at the level of local commanders. Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on May 9.

Last week, local commanders of both the sides held at least five meetings during which the Indian side took strong note of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) erecting a large numbers of tents in areas in Galwan Valley which India felt belonged to its side of the LAC.

Reports also suggest that a patrol party of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were detained and later released by the Chinese forces earlier last week. The situation was defused after a border meeting of commanders from both sides. The Indian Army has however denied these reports.

(With inputs from PTI)

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