Center taken note of Chinese incursions: Army chief to visit Leh-Ladakh

New Delhi, September 07: Chinese violations of airspace and international border in Leh and Ladakh respectively, the Central government has taken note of the incursions at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) held here.

Ministers at the CCS meet are reported to have discussed the Chinese incursions with serious concern.

Reports said Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor will travel to Leh on September 10 and 11 to take stock of the situation first hand.

The External Affairs Minister had earlier in the day said that India has “one of the most peaceful boundaries with China”, adding the issue was being sorted out.

“Let me go on record to say that this (border with China) has been one of the most peaceful boundaries that we have had as compared to other boundary lines with other countries,” Krishna told reporters here.

“With China, I think, the boundary has been one of the most peaceful. So, there is no issue on that. There is no problem on that,” he replied when asked about the incidents of China violating India’s airspace and International Border.

The Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into the Indian territory near Mount Gya in Ladakh region, recognised as International border by India and China, and painted the boulders and rocks with red spray paint, according to official sources.

The incursions were reported from the area, generally referred in the Chumar sector in east of Leh, and painted “China” in Cantonese with Red spray paint all over the boulders and rocks.

Before this, Chinese helicopters had violated the Indian airspace along the Line of Actual Control in Chumar region only in June and also heli-dropped some expired food.

According to Krishna, there is a built-in mechanism which is in place and which takes care of such incursions. He added that this issue of incursions will be sorted out.

The standard mechanism Krishna was referring to includes flag meetings and diplomatic channels. According to the India-China 2005 protocol, a flag meeting is to be called within 48 hours of any air intrusion for clarification. The intrusion then has to be investigated by the country accused of intrusion and the result communicated to the other country within four weeks.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor meanwhile declined to comment on border violations by Chinese troops, saying he could “say something” on it only after studying the reported incident.

“I have all along been in Kerala for some time and would be able to make a statement on the incident only after verifying the files,” Tharoor said, evading queries of reporters on the issue.

The Indian Army today said there was “nothing unusual” about the Chinese Army incursion into Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army however said that it has registered a protest at the Border Personnel meeting.

“There is nothing unusual about these incursions, which happen regularly. But the Army takes these up with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the regular Border Personnel meetings,” sources in the Army headquarters said.

Sources said the incursions happened, primarily due to “differing perception” of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had earlier trashed reports of incursions as “baseless” and said that Beijing seeks a fair and mutually acceptable solution through a peaceful and friendly negotiation.

Beijing has however yet to respond to India’s proposal for clarifying the LAC so that such incursions are avoided.

India and China held the 13th round of boundary talks between their special representatives last month. The talks are aimed at arriving at a package settlement to their decades-old dispute from a higher political perspective.

The main opposition BJP meanwhile has charged the UPA government with not taking the issue “seriously enough”.

“The government should lodge strong protests with the Chinese government. The matter is serious but the government is not taking it as seriously as it should,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

—Agencies