Days after it was reported that the Indian Army had foiled attempts of the Chinese road building team to enter the Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh, Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday said that the matter has now been resolved with the Chinese troops, PTI reported.
The Chinese road building team had reportedly crossed into the Indian territory, about one kilometre inside the Line of Actual Control in Tuting area in the last week of December, with machinery, The Hindu reported. On December 28, a joint team of the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police had stopped them and sent them back.
Rawat said a Border Personnel Meeting between the two sides took place two days ago in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, China had denied having knowledge about reports that its troops were locked in a standoff with the Indian security forces.
Rawat added that China had withdrawn a large part of its troops from near the Doklam tri-junction in the Sikkim sector. “There is major reduction in the Chinese troop strength,” said the Army chief.
Doklam standoff
The alleged incursion came months after the 74-day military standoff with China at the Doklam sector in Sikkim in 2017. The Indo-China standoff went on from June to August. The Doklam plateau is located near the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. Both Thimphu and Beijing claim it as their territory.
Beijing and New Delhi had both maintained that troops from the other nation had transgressed into their territory. Bilateral ties were strained after the Indian Army stopped China from constructing a road in Doklam. On August 29, 2017, India announced that it was disengaging its troops from Doklam.
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