Incursions along China border due to perception difference: Rajnath

In the wake of reported incursion attempts by China, India on Wednesday said such incidents take place due to difference of perception about boundary and leaders of both the countries are in talks to resolve the issue.

"Incursions along the border take place due to the difference of perception about boundary," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters in New Delhi.

Singh was reacting to reports that Chinese troops had made two incursion attempts in the past few days in Demchok and Chumar areas of Ladakh sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

The incursion bids by the Chinese People's Liberation came even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasised on the need to find a solution to the Boundary Question during their meeting in Fortaleza in Brazil on Tuesday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

The home minister said heads of both the countries are in talks on border issues and how to resolve it.

Singh said such incursions had taken place in the past too when the Chinese side entered into Indian territory and were pushed back by Indian security personnel. "Sometimes they enter and our forces push them back," he said.

The latest incident occurred in Charding Nilu Nullah Junction in Demchok sector on Tuesday when PLA personnel entered the area on their vehicles in the wee hours claiming it to be Chinese territory, official sources had said.

The PLA soldiers who wanted to have a round of the area were stopped by the Indian army and personnel of Indo Tibetan Border Police, a force which guards the India-China border.

After a 30-minute long stand-off followed by a banner drill where armies of both the countries warned each other against moving a step forward, the PLA personnel returned to their side, the sources said.

The Chinese troops, riding on horses, had earlier entered through Chumar, located 300 km east of Leh, on July 13 only to be confronted by Indian soldiers and after the usual banner drill between the two sides, the PLA patrol went back.

Chumar has been an epicentre of heightened activities of the PLA who had been making increased attempts to enter through this region as India has dominance in this sector.

Image: A Chinese soldier looks into the camera at the India-China trade route at Nathu-La, 55 north of Gangtok, capital of Sikkim. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters