India has accused Chinese troops of intruding the Chumar sector in Ladakh, the same area which had sparked off tensions in April, and smashed some bunkers besides cutting wires of cameras installed at the border post.
The Indian media quoting official sources on Tuesday said the intrusion took place on June 17 when the troops of China’s People’s Liberation Army(PLA) entered Indian territory in the Chumar sector and started vandalising observation bunkers, besides cutting the wires which overlook the Chinese territory.
Chumar, located 300 km from Leh, has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only area along the Sino-Indian border where they do not have any direct access to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The 21-day face-off between the two sides in the remote Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector on April 15 was triggered by construction of an observation tower in Chumar division which had to be subsequently dismantled by the Indian Army on May 5 before the crisis was defused.
The Chinese side, according to the minutes of the flag meetings in the last week of March this year, had been objecting to the construction of the watch tower along the LAC in Chumar.
After dismantling the observation post and defence bunkers, the Indian Army had installed cameras to monitor movement of Chinese troops along the LAC, a step which had irked the PLA.
Chumar, a remote village on Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border, is being claimed by China as its own territory. The Chinese side also reportedly resorted to helicopter incursions almost every year.
This area is not accessible from the Chinese side whereas the Indian side has a road almost to the last point on which the Indian Army can carry loads upto nine tonnes.