New Delhi, September 08: Even though External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Monday sought to downplay the recent 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.
–Agencies