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Chinese troops went into Indian
territory: report
NO PROBLEM:The chief of India¡¦s army played down the
incident, saying it may have occurred because China has a different view of
where the border lies
AP, NEW DELHI
Armed Chinese soldiers infiltrated Indian territory and threatened construction
workers near a disputed border in September last year, Indian media reported
yesterday.
The Chinese incursion took place in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, the Press
Trust of India said without citing a source for the information.
Chinese soldiers threatened an Indian contractor and his workers who were
building a bus station near Demchok in India¡¦s Leh region along the so-called
Line of Actual Control that divides India and China. Construction work has been
halted since the incident, the report said.
OLD HABIT
China has made similar incursions previously, the most serious in 1962 when the
two sides fought a brief border war.
The incident underscores the tensions that exist between the Asian giants
stemming from India¡¦s swift economic growth and the increasing challenge it
poses to China¡¦s dominance of the region.
Indian army chief General V. K. Singh yesterday played down the incident saying
it may have occurred over ¡§a difference in perception¡¨ of where the border lies.
Singh said the Line of Actual Control as perceived by India ¡§runs in a
particular direction, while the Chinese have a different alignment of the Line.¡¨
NO COMMENT
No immediate reaction was available from India¡¦s defense or foreign ministries.
Calls to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs late yesterday rang unanswered.
India and China ¡X neighbors with more than 1 billion people each ¡X have shared
chilly relations since the 1962 war.
New Delhi says China is illegally occupying 38,000km2 of its northwestern
territory, while Beijing claims a 90,000km2 chunk in northeastern India. The
countries have conducted 14 rounds of talks to resolve their decades-long border
dispute.
FRIENDS, FOES
China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India¡¦s bitter rival.
The presence in India of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is headed by the
Dalai Lama, and 120,000 exiles from Tibet also remains a source of tension
between New Delhi and Beijing. China is also suspicious of New Delhi¡¦s growing
ties with the US.
Despite the tensions, trade between the two sides, estimated at about US$60
billion last year, has been booming and is expected to reach US$100 billion in
the next three years.
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