CHINESE ARMY ENTERED INDIA ON JULY 25: REPORTS

Chinese border guards entered one kilometre into Indian territory and threatened shepherds grazing cattle in Barahoti area of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, official sources said on Monday. The incident took place on the morning of July 25 when a group of shepherds was asked to vacate the land by troops of the People’s Liberation Army, officials in the know said on the condition of anonymity.

Chinese troops were sighted on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Barahoti in Uttarakhand, officials said on Monday, against the backdrop of the nearly twomonth-old standoff between the two sides in the Sikkim sector.

The latest incident came almost a year after People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers were spotted on the Indian side in the same area of Chamoli district.

The Chinese troops intruded almost a kilometre into Indian territory and threatened some shepherds, PTI reported. The incident occurred last week and the Chinese troops went back after about two hours, sources said.

Chamoli’s superintendent of police Tripti Bhatt acknowledged that “something” had occurred at the border but did not go into details.

“I am not supposed to comment since it’s a matter of the strategic relationship between two nations. But there has been something (in Barahoti). Partially, it (the news report) is correct,” Bhatt told HT on phone.

In New Delhi, sources sought to play down the reported intrusion.

They said “incidents of a similar nature have happened in the past but are normally sorted out locally”. Such incidents “should not be given undue importance”, the sources added.