LADAKH: Indian forces have arrested a Chinese soldier on the disputed Himalayan frontier where the two countries fought a deadly battle last year.
The Indian army said in a statement on Saturday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter was “detained” on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, as the border is known, in the early hours of Friday and taken into custody.
“The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures, and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated,” read the statement. However, there was no immediate confirmation or comment from China o the matter.
In October 2020, another Chinese soldier was briefly held by Indian forces in the same region. It is the second detention on the high altitude border since the pitched combats in June in which 20 Indian Army soldiers and an unidentified number of Chinese forces were killed.
India and China have since poured tens of thousands of troops and heavy weaponry into the tension region in the Ladakh area. In 1962, India and China have disputed their frontier for seven decades and fought a brief war. They blame each other for the current standoff.
The two neighbors have held several rounds of disengagement talks but failed to ease the military buildup. India’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the two sides have agreed to a new round of talks between senior commanders.
“In the meantime, both sides have maintained communication at the ground level to avoid any misunderstandings and misjudgments,” it said in a statement.
