2 China copters hover in Indian airspace

New Delhi, June 4: Two helicopters of the People’s Liberation Army of China hovered over Chamoli district in Uttarakhand on Saturday, triggering concern in India’s security establishment about the PLA’s fourth such incursion into Indian airspace since March this year.

Official sources said the copters, which returned to the Chinese side after about five minutes, could have carried out aerial photography of Indian ground troops during what was possibly a reconnaissance mission.

The Indian Air Force is probing the incident, a source said.

The copters were identified as the Zhiba series of attack helicopters.

On previous occasions, Chinese helicopters had entered 4.5 km into Indian territory, an area that China claims as its own and recognises as Wu-Je.

State and Army officials have been reviewing the security along the 350-km border with Tibet after

The Indian Air Force is probing the incident, a source said

The copters were identified as the Zhiba series of attack helicopters

China’s incursions into these areas, generally referred as the middle sector.

Barahoti is one of three border posts in the sector, comprising UP, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where ITBP jawans are not allowed to carry weapons and are in civilian clothes under a unilateral decision taken by the Central government in June 2000.

In 1958, India and China listed Barahoti, an 80-sqkm sloping pasture, as a disputed area where neither side would send their troops. In the 1962 IndiaChina war, the PLA did not enter the 545-km middle sector, focusing on the Western (Ladakh) and Eastern (Arunachal Pradesh) sectors.

However, after the 1962 war, ITBP jawans patrolled the area with weapons in a non-combative manner, under which the barrel of the gun is positioned downward.

During prolonged negotiations on resolving border disputes, the Indian side had unilaterally decided in June 2000 that ITBP troops would not be carrying arms to three posts — Barahoti, Kauril and Shipki in Himachal Pradesh.