Chinese troops intrusion in Uttarakhand- Rawat alerts center
Chinese troops infiltrated into Uttarakhand on July 19 and came face to face with district administrative officials and Paramilitary Jawans, a report sent by the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
Sources said the Chinese incursion took place at a grazing ground in Barahoti in Chamoli district and the area, which is a ‘no man’s land’, is claimed by both China and India.
On July 25, Indian security forces also reported an air intrusion by a Chinese chopper in the same area. However, the Centre on Wednesday downplayed the incidents amid confusion over the date when the face-off took place.
While Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said in Dehradun that the incident took place on July 19, Union minister for state Kiren Rijiju gave the date as July 22.
A home ministry official said that Chinese troops stopped a team of 19 Indian officials headed by the sub-divisional magistrate of Joshimath around 200 metres into the disputed area.
Six personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the force which guards the 3488-km Sino-Indian border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast, accompanied the team. However, the security personnel were neither in uniform nor armed in keeping with the mutually agreed norm.
Uttarakhand shares about 350 km boundary with China. In the past, Chinese troops have been known to cross over and write ‘China’ on rocks in Chamoli.
