India puts eye in sky even as China denies provocation

LADAKH ROW External affairs minister to visit China in May, says issue will be resolved

BEIJING/ NEW DELHI: Military sources said India is flying UAVs over Ladakh where it claims China has crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as external affairs minister Salman Khurshid confirmed his visit to the country on May 9.

China on Thursday said it did not provoke any confrontation along the LAC, reiterating that its troops have always acted in compliance with treaties.

Khurshid said he would go to Beijing ahead of Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s visit to India on May 20. The minister also expressed confidence that India and China will be able to resolve the situation peacefully.

Hopes for an early breakthrough in the Ladakh face-off have arisen with Beijing confirming the visit of a high-level advance security liaison team to New Delhi on April 30 to work out the logistics of Li’s visit.

Top government sources said there appears to be growing realisation in Beijing that a long face- off with India, its seventh largest trading partner, could be counterproductive.

Army chief Bikram Singh, who was in J& K, updated defence minister AK Antony on Thursday on the developments along the LAC.

Meanwhile, government sources said that India will increase the number of its troops if the Chinese People’s Liberation Army ( PLA) enhances the strength of its soldiers in the Indian territory of Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh.

All the formations of the Army from the Leh-based 14 Corps to the 3 Corps in Northeast deployed along the China border are also on alert to check any attempt by the PLA troops to enter Indian territory, they said.

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