Jammu, Sep 15 (Inditop.com) Residents of Ladakh are not particularly worried by media reports of recent Chinese incursions in the mountainous region of the upper Himalayas. They see these intrusions as “routine” along a disputed border that is yet to be demaracted.
“Straying into each other’s territory in this huge frontier which is not demarcated is a routine affair,” P. Namgyal, a senior Congress leader in Ladakh and former MP, told Inditop over telephone from Leh.
He pointed out that cattle, sheep, goats and yaks from either side regularly move to the other and herders follow to get them back. “This has been happening for long, but we do not know why it has come into sharp focus and people are crying foul over it now,” he said.
Namgyal speculated that something similar could have happened in Chamoli area of Uttarakhand recently.
“What is happening in eastern Ladakh’s Changthang area is not as serious as it is reported to be,” he said.
Army sources in Ladakh agree with Namgyal, saying there was nothing new in the reported incursions. “But we do not understand why all of a sudden it has become the focus of media attention,” one of them said.
The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there have been some movements in terms of building roads and railways on the Chinese side, but stressed there is no cause for alarm as there is no Chinese military intrusion into India.
“We can say that there is nothing new. They (the Chinese) said that it was the result of a difference in perception. After all, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China here is not demarcated and alignment is such that sometimes we cry foul at their patrol while sometimes they cry foul at our patrol,” an officer said.
A prominent resident of Leh, who spoke to IANS on condition of anonymity, suspected: “This hue and cry and ringing of alarm bells by the state government over this issue is a ploy to get the attention of central government and hence more money for the area.”
“We are keeping a close watch on the situation on day to day basis,” said Raman Bhalla, Minister for Revenue and Relief in Jammu and Kashmir government, who has been asked to look into the matter.
On July 31, Chinese troops entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into Indian territory near 22,420 feet Mount Gya and painted the word ‘China’ in Cantonese on the boulders and rocks there with red spray paint. This sparked a media frenzy and commentaries whipping up the spectre of China’s threat to India.
Flag meetings and diplomatic channels are usually used to resolve issues relating to incursions along the 4,030 km frontier. According to the India-China 2005 protocol, a flag meeting is to be called within 48 hours of any alleged air intrusion for clarification. The intrusion then has to be investigated by the country accused of intrusion and the result communicated to the other country within four weeks.
In August, Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor admitted that there was “one intrusion of a Chinese helicopter some time back”.
“The number of intrusions that has taken place so far in 2009 is almost the same that happened last year along both north and south banks (of Pangong Lake). They are taken up at regular border meets,” Kapoor had said.
