Army Chief General MM Naravane visits Ladakh amid tensions along LAC

There has been a marked increase in the number of Chinese transgressions into the Indian side of the LAC in Ladakh.




Army Chief General MM Naravane visited the Leh-based 14 Corps headquarters Friday amid tensions between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

There has been a marked increase in the number of Chinese transgressions into the Indian side of the LAC in Ladakh. According to official data, the first four months of this year witnessed 170 Chinese transgressions across the LAC, including 130 in Ladakh. There were only 110 such transgressions in Ladakh during the same period in 2019.

A Chinese transgression across the border is recorded once the Indian border force in an area — either the Army or ITBP — are “reasonably certain” that Chinese soldiers crossed over to the Indian side of the LAC, according to officials.

India and China share a boundary that stretches 3,488 km from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

Explained: What does the increase in Chinese transgressions mean?

In early May, Indian and Chinese troops came to blows on two occasions, once near Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh and in the Naku La sector in Sikkim. In both incidents, personnel from both sides suffered injuries.

The Indian Express earlier reported there was movement of Chinese troops to eastern Ladakh after India began constructing a road in the Galwan river area, which is within Indian territory. The Chinese, however, had voiced repeated objections to this.

“Galwan is not a disputed area between India and China, unlike Pangong Tso. Both sides agree on the LAC and patrol accordingly. There was no transgression by Chinese patrols in the area in the past two years. The issue is the construction of the road, which is well inside our territory, and, therefore, their objection is hard to comprehend,” a source told The Indian Express.

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