Chinese trespass on Indian territory again; Uttarakhand sends report to Centre

Delhi, July 27: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat confirmed that chinese troops were spotted again on Uttarakhand’s demilitarized international stretch along Barahoti.  “This is a matter of concern. We have asked (the Centre) to increase vigilance,” he told news agency ANI.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the government has asked the Indo Tibetan Border Police to look into the matter. The 3488-km Sino-Indian border spanning from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast is manned by the Indo Tibetan Border Police.

Chamoli district magistrate Vinod Suman, who led the team, confirmed that an official report on the visit had been filed but added that he could not divulge details as it was highly confidential.

Sources said a team of officials had gone to the Line of Actual Control between India and China near Barahoti when Chinese soldiers appeared and signalled the Indian team to go back, claiming it was their land.

The 80-sq km area has been agreed by both countries to be a disputed part and was yet to be sorted out at the negotiating table. The recent incident is not the first of its kind where Chinese soldiers had infiltrated into the said part of the Indian territory.

In 2013, at a chief ministers’ meet on internal security held at Delhi, former CM Vijay Bahuguna, had tabled a report which detailed that the Chinese trespassed into the Indian territory no less than 37 times between 2007 and 2012. The year 2014 was also marked by reports of Chinese intrusion.