Amid reports of Chinese troops marching into Indian territory in Leh to stop an ongoing canal construction work and claiming that area belongs to them,the Indian Army has denied any "incursion" by the Chinese troops on Indian side.and the issue relating to the construction project is being looked into.
The Indian Army, while stating there was no "incursion", also said that the issue of construction projects "on both sides" is being sorted out in the Border Personnel Meetings (BPM).
"No Chinese incursion across LAC. Issues relating construction projects on both sides of LAC being resolved in BPM," the Army's Northern Command said in a tweet.
Earlier, reports said that around 55 PLA personnel entered the area along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Demchok sector of Leh district Wednesday afternoon and halted the work of an irrigation canal in an aggressive manner, being built under the MNREGA scheme.
This prompted the Army and the ITBP personnel to rush to the spot and stop the high-handedness of Chinese troops.
Both sides pulled out banners and have been stationed on the ground, sources said, adding the Army and ITBP were not allowing the Chinese to move ahead despite PLA claiming the area belongs to China.
The area had witnessed a similar incident in 2014 after it was decided to construct a small irrigation canal at Nilung Nalla under the MNREGA scheme that had been a sore point with the Chinese.
The PLA had mobilised villagers from Tashigong to pitch Rebos (tents) at Charding-Ninglung Nallah (CNN) Track Junction to protest Indian action.
This time, the sources said, there were 55 personnel from the Chinese PLA whereas nearly 70 personnel from ITBP and army had fortified the area and prevented their march deeper into Indian territory, the sources said.
