More than 100 Chinese soldiers transgressed into Indian territory on August 30th in Barahoti which is a demilitarized zone and went through the border point at Barahoti ridge in Uttarakhand, as reported by the Economic Times on Tuesday, citing unidentified government and security officials.<\/p>\n
The Chinese soldiers destroyed some infrastructure in the area, including a bridge, and disappeared before patrol teams of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police could reach the spot, the report said.<\/p>\n
The Chinese troops also brought 55 horses along with them and stayed in the area for around three hours during the reported incursion.<\/p>\n
The Barahoti ridge lies north of the Nanda Devi National Park in Uttarakhand and is connected to the Joshimath district. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police monitor the nearly 350-kilometers long border between India and China in Uttarakhand, according to the Economic Times.<\/p>\n
Local residents informed the authorities about the reported transgression, following which the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Police Force deployed their patrol teams to the area, according to the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarlier also several attempts were made by PLA [China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army] to infiltrate the Barahoti area,\u201d an unidentified government official told the Economic Times.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, another home ministry official told the newspaper that there were differences between the Indian and Chinese perception of the Line of Actual Control in the area, which has led to frequent incursions.<\/p>\n
The two countries do not share a defined and demarcated border. Instead, there is the Line of Actual Control, which stretches thousands of kilometers from Ladakh all the way to Arunachal Pradesh.<\/p>\n
The report came even as the troops of the two countries have agreed to disengage from several friction points in the eastern Ladakh region. India and China have been locked in a standoff in the region since May 2020. Chinese troops had clashed with the Indian Army at several points along the Line of Actual Control that month.<\/p>\n
On June 15, 2020, twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash with Chinese forces in\u00a0Galwan Valley and the two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks since then to resolve the tensions.<\/p>\n
India and China had in February this year disengaged from Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh. After the commander-level talks on July 31, the two countries also agreed to disengage from Gogra.<\/p>\n