Need time on Chinese army's Ladakh incursion: Ministry

The issue of Chinese army's incursion into Ladakh is limited in its geographical scope and India needs time and space to "work this through", the external affairs ministry Thursday said.

A Chinese platoon set up a camp 19 km inside the Indian territory in Ladakh's Depsang Valley April 15.

"The objective of our diplomatic contact has been that we return to status quo as it was in that limited spatial and geographical space prior to April 15. We require time and space to work this through and channels are active diplomatically," external affairs ministry (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here.

"There has been continuing diplomatic contact and this contact has been at various levels and on different occasions. Diplomatic contact with China on this issue is ongoing," he said.

"We have been able to communicate our concerns to the Chinese. This is an incident which is limited in geographical scope and localised in geographical and spatial terms," he said.

On External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's trip to China, he said: "The minister himself has said that he intends to go to Beijing."

India has tried through meetings with local military commanders and through diplomatic channels to get China to vacate the area. China, however, insists that it has not intruded into Indian territory.