As reports about Chinese incursions into Indian territory continue to mount, India on Monday came up with two strikingly different reactions. While Army officials admitted that Chinese soldiers ventured into India and promised to take up the matter, the foreign ministry stated that this wasn't an issue at all and that India and China shared "one of the most peaceful" borders. Foreign minister S M Krishna said that India would go by the standard mechanism in dealing with such cases of Chinese incursion. "Let me go on record to say that this (border with China) has been one of the most peaceful boundaries that we have had as compared to other boundary lines with other countries," stated Krishna, while replying to queries on China violating India's airspace and international border. "There is a built-in mechanism which is in place and which takes care of such incursions. With China, I think the boundary has been one of the most peaceful. So, there is no issue on that. There is no problem on that," he added. In the latest such case, reports from Jammu and Kashmir said that Chinese soldiers entered the Chumar sector east of Leh and even threatened some Indian shepherds. India has so far acted with restraint maintaining that the Line of Actual Control with China is not very well defined and that the Chinese don't share India's perception of the border. A senior foreign ministry official said that India has asked Beijing for clarification on certain disputed stretches along the LAC but Beijing has not responded yet. The foreign minister's comments came even as the Army gathered evidence from the spots on the Indian side where Chinese troops had painted rocks and left behind "tell tale evidence" of incursions. Defence sources said the matter will be taken up with the Chinese authorities. A senior Army official said though the Chinese used to leave behind signs of incursions in the past too, this is for the first time that they painted "China" over rocks with red spray paint. Last week, Army chief General Deepak Kapoor had said that India had lodged a strong protest with the Chinese authorities on the issue of recent incursion of a helicopter into Indian territory. |
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