An alarming incident was reported on Wednesday morning in Uttarakhand, where the Chinese intruded disputed Barahoti area of Chamoli district. The incident has now been confirmed by the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who has called the incident “worrisome”.
Rawat said that he is assured that the Centre will take take note and act upon the issue. “Good thing is the Chinese have not touched an important canal there,” said Harish Rawat.
The state of Uttarakhand shares a 350 kilometer long boundary with China and there have been similar attempts on several occasions in the past. There have been reports in past when Chinese troops entered the area and scribbled the word ‘China’ on rocks near Mana Pass in Chamoli.
It is being reported that a helicopter belonging to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) violated the Indian airspace in Uttarkhand on July 19.
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju said, “We have to check whether this incident was intrusion or not, only then can any action be taken.”
After hovering over the Indian airspace for nearly five minutes, the helicopter disappeared and flew back into the Chinese airspace.
Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) had sent a report to the Union Home Ministry on the latest Chinese incursion.
The incident comes a month after a Chinese fighter-bomber jet violated the Indian airspace in the Aksai Chin area near the Indo-China international border.
On June 9, a fresh incursion by the Chinese troops into Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh led to a minor scuffle and triggered tension between the two sides.
However, the issue was resolved soon and the Chinese offered chocolates as a gesture of peace and returned back. According to reports, around 250 Chinese troops transgressed to the Indian side in the Yangtse sector, approximately 650 metres east of Shankar Tiki, an area where Indian soldiers are stationed in a sizeable number.
Joshimath district team visited Barahoti to monitor relief work after rains, during which Chinese troops were spotted in the area. The Chinese troops thereafter chased away the district administration team.
Barahoti in Joshimath is a grazing land. Even last year, the Chinese troops had put the area on fire to make temporary shift huts of Indian shepherds.
