A few days after Beijing released photographs showing Indian troops and two military bulldozers on what it said was the Chinese side of the border, India has pushed in more troops in a “non-combative mode.”
The troops have been deployed to strengthen Indian position in an area near Sikkim, where the country is locked in a stand-off with Chinese troops for nearly a month, Times of India reported.
The dispute is being termed as the longest such impasse between the militaries of the two countries since 1962.
India brought in the troops after the alleged destruction of its bunkers and, what it called, “aggressive tactics” adopted by Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The report quoted sources as saying that PLA had asked the Indian army on June 1 to remove the bunkers located in Chumbi valley at the India-Bhutan-Tibet junction.
India had positioned the bunkers as a “backup arrangement” in addition to providing security to the Bhutan-China border.
On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said “The Donglang region belongs to Chinese territory and it is very clear the conditions of the threshold where the areas are that were trespassed by the Indian troops.”
Small incursions and troop stand-offs are common along other parts of China and India’s contested 3,500 km frontier, but a flare-up near strategically positioned Sikkim was rare.
India has deepened its military ties with the United States in recent years, worrying China, which is also unhappy with India’s refusal to participate in Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. India is concerned the project could cement China’s dominance over Asia.
(Source: The Express Tribune)