‘Chinese road building party entered India, but no standoff’

Updated : Jan 03, 2017, 23:01

New Delhi, Jan 3  A road building party from China entered Indian territory in a remote part of Arunachal Pradesh in December-end and was turned back by Indian troops, government sources said adding that there was no standoff between the two sides unlike Doklam.

According to the sources, the Chinese road construction party entered India around December 26, and began constructing a track, around two km away from the nearest Indo-Tibetan Border Police post. They had completed a 600-metre-long and 12 feet wide track when they were stopped.

The area where the Chinese labour party entered is close to the place where Brahmaputra river enters India.

Indian troops pushed back the labourers, and seized the equipment. While there was no confrontation between troops on both side, Indian troops have since barricaded the area and have been guarding it.

Sources said China has requested that the equipment be returned.

The incident comes months after a 73-day stand-off was witnessed at Doklam in the Sikkim section of the Sino-Indian border.

The stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the border, close to India-China-Bhutan tri-junction started on June 16, when a PLA construction party entered the Doklam area and attempted to construct a road on land that is claimed by Bhutan. Both sides announced disengagement on August 28.

The standoff had led to tension between the two nuclear armed nations, and during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in December, India had stressed that peace along the India-China border is a pre-requisite for strong bilateral relations.

Wang had also admitted that the standoff had put a “severe” strain on bilateral ties.

IANS