Indian media sources reported that a minor flare up occurred along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, when a group of Chinese soldiers attempted to transgress in to the Indian controlled territory. Although the incident occurred on 29th July this year, the media reported it only on today. The Sino-Indian border, which runs for some 4,057 kilometres, is still not clearly defined in some of the remote alpine sectors. Earlier also, there were reports of transgression by the PLA troops in the Indian states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Officials from the Indian Armed Forces announced that they have already conveyed their protests to the Chinese authorities. The incident allegedly occurred in the Chumar region of the Nyoma sector, which lies on the south-eastern part of Ladakh, near the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. According to the officials from the Indian Army, a large team of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had crossed over to the Indian side on 29th July. As the Indian troops pointed out that the area lies west of the LAC, the Chinese soldiers retreated from the area to their bases across the border.

According to the Indian media, there were more than 550 incidents of border violations by the PLA troops, during the last three years alone. Incidents were recorded from all the three sectors of the Indo-Chinese border – Western (Leh / Kargil), Central (Himachal / Uttaranchal) and Eastern (North-eastern states, including Sikkim and Arunachal). The Indian Army is hoping that the proposed Sino-Indian boundary co-ordination mechanism will bring down the number of such incidents, once it is implemented.

Border security and demarcation was one of the key issues taken up during the recent visit by the Chinese defence minister Liang Guanglie to India. Central minister Mullappally Ramachandran today announced that there were 228 incidents of border violations by the PLA soldiers in 2010, 213 in 2011, and 64 during the first four months of 2012.

Three years ago, there was a major military flare-up involving the two sides, when Chinese troops crossed the LAC and occupied the Mount Gya region in Ladakh. The region is located at an elevation of around 22,000 feet, at the tri-junction of Ladakh, Spiti and Tibet.