New Delhi. Jan. 4 (TNS): Chinese road construction personnel intruded almost one kilometre into the Indian territory in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh in late December but retreated after being stopped by Indian troops, who seized their two excavators and other equipment, Indian media reported.
Indian security establishment officials, however, played down this yet another incident of China ratcheting up pressure all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) despite the disengagement of rival troops from the 73-day face-off at Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction on August 28.
“There is no troop confrontation at the site near the Bishing village in Tuting area of Arunachal’s Upper Siang district. It’s not a Doklam-like situation. The issue is being resolved through the established coordination mechanism (flag and border personnel meetings) between the two countries … the Chinese will be asked to take their road-construction equipment back,” Times of India quoting an Indian official said.
But such road alignment and construction bids as well as troop transgressions across the LAC, which stretches from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, are highly unusual in the winter months.
Already, around 1,600-1,800 Chinese troops have established a permanent presence in the Bhutanese territory of Doklam, with the construction of two helipads, upgraded roads, scores of pre-fabricated huts, shelters and stores to withstand the chill in the high-altitude region, as reported by TOI earlier.
