China protests drone ‘invasion’, India says issue ‘under probe’
FRESH FRICTION? Israelimade Heron crashed on an undisclosed date
BEIJING/NEW DELHI : China said on Thursday that an Indian drone “invaded” its airspace before crashing on its side of the border, an incident that New Delhi attributed to a technical problem with an unmanned aerial vehicle that was on a routine training mission. China did not say when the incident had happened.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it had lodged “solemn representations” with India over the incident, while its defence ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction and opposition”.
Sources in India’s defence establishment said the UAV that crashed was an Israeli-made Heron, a medium-altitude long endurance drone used in mountainous terrain for surveillance and intelligence gathering along the frontiers with China and Pakistan. This is the first time a Heron has been lost in a crossborder incident, they added.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing: “Recently, an Indian unmanned aerial vehicle invaded China’s aerospace in the Sikkim section of the China-india border.”
The Chinese military handled the situation in a “professional” way, he added.
The border in Sikkim sector has been “delineated” and the “invasion” violated China’s sovereignty and wasn’t “conducive for peace and tranquility” in the region, Geng said.
Zhang Shuili, deputy chief of the combat bureau of the military’s western theater command, was quoted by official Xinhua news agency as saying: “India’s move has infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty, and we are strongly dissatisfied with and opposed to this…we will earnestly carry out our duty and resolutely defend our country’s sovereignty and security.”
India’s defence ministry said the UAV was on a “regular training mission” inside Indian territory when it “lost contact with the ground control due to some technical problem and crossed over the LAC” (Line of Actual Control) in Sikkim sector. In line with the standard protocol, Indian border security personnel immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV, the defence ministry said in a brief statement.
“In response, the Chinese side reverted with the l ocation details of the UAV. The exact cause of the incident is under investigation. The matter is being dealt with in accordance with the established protocols through institutional mechanisms to deal with situations along the India- China border areas,” it added.
Both sides did not give the date when the incident had occurred and the Chinese side did not share information on exactly where the UAV had crashed.
Geng said China has urged India to stop the “activities” of UAVS at the border and work with it to maintain peace at the frontier. The Indian Army has a fleet of about 45 Heron UAVS, made by Israel Aerospace Industries, some of which are deployed along the border with China for surveillance and intelligencegathering operations.
“These UAVS are very helpful in mountainous areas as they feed airborne intelligence,” one of the defence sources said .
The Heron has a range of 350km and can operate at a maximum height of 10km or 35,000 feet. The UAV can remain airborne for up to 50 hours, and has a top speed of 200 kmph.
This incident with potential for causing fresh friction comes two months after the two nations resolved a border standoff of more than 70 days between troops at Doklam near Sikkim.