NEW DELHI (AP) – The Indian army said on Saturday that it had captured a Chinese soldier in the remote region of Ladakh, where the two countries were locked up in a month-long military stand along their disputed mountain border.
According to an army statement, the Chinese soldier was arrested on Friday for trespassing on Indian territory in the area south of Pangong Tso Lake.
“The soldier of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) is being treated according to established procedures and circumstances under which he crossed the LAC (Line of Actual Control) are being investigated,” the statement read.
China said it had notified the Indian side as soon as one of its soldiers went missing “due to darkness and complicated terrain.”
The Indian side later confirmed that it had found the missing soldier and said it would bring him back to the Chinese side, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
‘The Indian side must adhere to strict agreements between the two countries and hand over the lost personnel to the Chinese side as soon as possible, to add positive factors to cool the situation on the border between China and India and to bring peace and calm together. maintain. the border area, ”reads the statement.
Indian and Chinese soldiers often lose their way in the disputed region of the Himalayas.
In October, India detained another Chinese soldier in Demchok area of Ladakh, but he was released after being found to have strayed across the de facto border.
In September, China released five Indians who had gone missing in the eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh amid inflammatory tensions between the two countries. The five men were Indian hunters.
The great climax among the Asian giants began with a fierce fighting in early May and exploded on June 15 in a hand-to-hand battle with batons, stones and fists that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. It is believed that China also had victims but gave no details.