Even as ties with Pakistan remain tense, Indian and Chinese troops have been in a stand-off since Wednesday in Ladakh’s Demchok area, a region bordering Tibet over the construction of an irrigation canal by India.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops stopped an irrigation canal construction work by India near the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Indian Government sources say the local administration is constructing an irrigation canal under the rural employment guarantee scheme to link a village with a ‘hot spring’ in Demchok, 250 kilometres east of Leh.
A senior Army officer said, “The issues relating to construction projects on both sides of LAC are being resolved in border personnel meetings and flag meetings.”
The fresh tensions in Demchok also come in the wake of the Indian government’s decision to allow the Dalai Lama to travel to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh despite China’s strong reservations about the Buddhist leader.
Tawang is also the site of a monastery that is of special significance to Tibetan Buddhists while China insists all of Arunachal as “South Tibet”.
Times of India quoting officials said around 55 Chinese troops arrived at the scene and called a halt to the work in an aggressive manner, prompting the Indian Army and the nearby Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel to rush to the spot and respond to the high-handedness of Chinese troops.
Demchok is at an altitude of around 11,500 feet and marks the entry of Indus into India from Tibet. The Chinese troops took positions on the LAC and demanded that work is stopped as both sides need to seek permission before undertaking any such activity.
This claim was disputed by the Indian side which says that the terms of the agreement between the two countries state that information about construction needs to be shared only if meant for defence purposes.
Both sides pulled out banners and have been stationed on the ground, sources said, adding the Indian Army and ITBP were not allowing the Chinese to move ahead despite PLA claiming the area belongs to China.