India likely to send army contingent to Ladakh's DBO

India is likely to send an army contingent to Daulat Beg Oldi area in Ladakh amid the failure of the flag meeting  to end the impasse on the incursion issue with the Chinese side refusing to leave, claiming it to be a part of their territory.

The meeting was held by brigadier-level officers from both the sides in Spanggur Gap in the Chusul sector and India asked the Chinese side to withdraw from DBO and revert to the status quo.

Sources in New Delhi said the meeting failed to produce any result as the Chinese side refused to move out from the location.

The Chinese side maintained that the area where they have set up tented posts is part of their territory, they said.

Sources also said that India may ask for more such meetings to resolve the issue and avoid any escalation in the situation.

The meeting lasted for more than three hours and details of the agreed position of the Line of Actual Control was shared by both the sides.

Transgressions in the Ladakh sector have taken place earlier also due to differences in perception of the LAC. The defence ministry had earlier also maintained that the LAC is not properly demarcated in some areas.

Indian Army had earlier sent a team of Ladakh Scouts -- an infantry regiment specialising in mountain warfare -- to the DBO sector, manned by the troops of Indo-Tibetan Border Police -- soon after the intrusion was discovered.

Additional troops may be deployed in the area if the situation does not de-escalate and Chinese troops do not go back to their old position, sources said.

A platoon-strength contingent of China's People's Liberation Army had come 10 km inside the Indian territory in Burthe in DBO sector, located at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, on the night of April 15 and established a tented post there.

India and China today conducted second round of flag-meeting in the area since the incursion was reported and asked the Chinese side to revert to the status quo position. The first meeting was held on April 18.

ITBP troops have also established a camp approximately 300 metres opposite the Chinese location and are monitoring the development.

DBO, located in northernmost Ladakh, is an historic camp site and located on an ancient trade route connecting Ladakh to Yarkand in Xinjiang, China.

Image: Reuters