Chinese Army Stopped Indian Graziers in Ladakh, Talks Underway
NEW DELHI, Aug 29: The Chinese army had stopped the Indian graziers within India’s perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Saddle Pass at CNN junction in Demchok in Ladakh, a senior government official said on Monday.
According to the official, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) objected to the presence of graziers on August 21. The incident was followed by a couple of meetings between the commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA to resolve the issue.
The graziers have been frequenting the area and there was a minor scuffle in 2019 also, said the official. “This time when the graziers went with the livestock, the Chinese objected that this was their territory. The issue was raised with the Chinese,” the official said.
A defence source said there was no face-off between the two armies. “It was a routine interaction between local commanders on the ground level to resolve issues at the local level to prevent escalation and maintain peace and tranquillity on the LAC. This keeps happening regularly all along the LAC as part of the agreed protocols,” the source said.
Another official added that India and China were engaged in eye-ball to eye-ball positions in the area since April 2020. Many areas in the sector have become “no patrolling zones” post the Galwan incident of June, 2020, when as many as 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with the Chinese PLA.
Indian and Chinese troops are positioned in close proximity at multiple locations along the undefined LAC in Eastern Ladakh for more than two years. While several rounds of talks at the diplomatic and military level have eased the standoff at a few points turning the areas into no-patrolling zones, there are others where the build-up continues.
(Manas Dasgupta)
