New Delhi: In the worst Chinese transgression in years, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army crossed into Ladakh’s Chumur on Wednesday morning – hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in India.
By late night, the face-off at Chumur got worse, with 1000 Chinese troops entering 4-5 km inside the Indian territory. India has rushed in reinforcements.
Efforts to resolve the transgressions have so far proved fruitless. A marathon 12-hour meeting on Monday was equally fruitless. The border issue is to be one of the key topics of discussion between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi.
The stand-off started almost a week ago at Chumur, which stands at the intersection of the international border and the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between the two nations. The Chinese soldiers had brought in in heavy construction equipment and a large labour force to try and build a road up to the border.
India objected strongly, sending troops as close as possible to the disputed site. After five days of deadlock, China sought a flag meeting — which took place on Monday but remained inconclusive.
Perhaps to divert focus from Chumur, the Chinese side objected to an irrigation canal being built at Demchock about 80 km away and sent hundreds of civilians to protest. The standoff at Demchock, unusually, is now between Indian and Chinese civilians.
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