J&K concerned over Chinese army incursion in Ladakh

Jammu, April 22 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir government has written to the central government voicing its concern over the "deep incursion of Chinese troops on this side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the cold desert region of Ladakh," a state minister said.

"We are waiting for the response of the central government in this regard," Minister of State (MoS) for Home Sajjad Kichloo told reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Monday.

The letter was written last weekend, the minister said.

"This time, it is very serious as they (Chinese troops) have set up tented post deep inside our territory," the minister said.

His reference was to the setting up a tented post in Daulat Beg Oldie area in Ladakh region by Chinese troops.

The post had come up around 10 km deep inside the Indian territory.

Though the Indian side, too, has set up its post, the stand-off has not scaled down, as Beijing has maintained that it was "within its own territory and not on Indian territory".

This was conveyed to the Indian Army during a flag meeting Friday.

Indian authorities said the incident was caused by confusion over "differences in perception" of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that separates the two countries.

The Chinese had set up their post on the intervening night of April 15 and 16, and one company strength, of about 100 personnel, were deployed there.

The cold desert region of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir has about 650 km of Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, which is not demarcated at most places.

There have been Chinese incursions on the Indian side on several occasions in the past too in Ladakh, but these were usually sorted out through flag meetings.