Did Antony ignore June 17 incursion by PLA to ensure a smooth China trip? | |
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 Defence Minister A.K. Antony with his Chinese counterpart Gen Chang Wanquan in Beijing. According to sources, Antony received the report on People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) action in Chumar on June 24, exactly a week after it happened. However, sources said, Antony expressed to the briefing team that the intrusion should not affect his Beijing visit plan. Sources said that Antony also received information that the issue was being addressed at the local level. On June 24, Antony finalised and approved agenda for his China visit from July 4. According to sources, the latest PLA intrusion and the July 3 border meeting did not come up when Antony was in Beijing. The question now arises whether the defence minister deliberately chose to ignore the June 17 border incursion so as to ensure a smooth and unruffled trip to China. |
Chinese troops enter Chumar again, vandalise Indian posts
The intrusion took place on June 17 when Chinese troops entered Indian territory in the Chumar sector and started vandalising the observation bunkers, sources said.
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Official sources said on Tuesday the intrusion took place on June 17 when the troops of China's People's Liberation Army(PLA) entered Indian territory in the Chumar sector and started vandalising the observation bunkers, besides cutting the wires which overlook the Chinese territory.
Chumar, located 300 km from here, has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only area along the Sino-Indian border where they do not have any direct access to the Line of Actual Control(LAC).
The 21-day face-off between the two sides in the remote Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector on April 15 was triggered by construction of an observation tower in Chumar division which had to be subsequently dismantled by the Army on May 5 before the crisis was defused.
The Chinese side, according to the minutes of the flag meetings in the last week of March this year, had been objecting to the construction of the watch tower along the LAC in Chumar.
After dismantling the observation post and defence bunkers, Army had installed cameras to monitor movement of Chinese troops along the LAC, a step which had irked the PLA.
Chumar, a remote village on Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border, is being claimed by China as its own territory. The Chinese side also reportedly resorted to helicopter incursions almost every year.
Last year, it dropped some of the soldiers of PLA in this region and dismantled the makeshift storage tents of the Army and ITBP.
This area is not accessible from the Chinese side whereas the Indian side has a road almost to the last point on which the Army can carry loads upto nine tonnes.