Amidst negotiations to de-escalate the tensions along the India-China border, the Indian Army on Monday apprehended a Chinese soldier, who claimed to have strayed across the Indian side. According to a statement issued by the Indian Army, a Chinese soldier, identified as Corporal Wang Ya Long, was caught from the Demchok sector in Eastern Ladakh. The captured PLA corporal is from an armoured unit from Shanxi.
“The PLA soldier has been provided medical assistance including oxygen, food and warm clothes to protect him from the vagaries of extreme altitude and harsh climatic conditions,” the Army said in a statement. A request has also been received from the PLA about the whereabouts of the missing soldier, it added.
As per established protocols, he will be returned back to Chinese officials at the Chushul–Moldo meeting point after completion of formalities, the Army said.
Since April, both sides have amassed a huge number of troops and equipment along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. In order to defuse the tension, military commanders of two sides have already met seven times, but the talks remained inconclusive. The last meeting of the military commanders happened on October 12 at Chushul on Indian side of the LAC.
Efforts are on to finalise the next rounds of talk. The Indian side has made it clear to their Chinese counterparts to withdraw their tanks and heavy artillery guns from depth areas, as the PLA were the aggressor in the entire episode.
Efforts are on to defuse the tension and to find a way out ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled virtual meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping in the upcoming BRICS summit in November.
Military strategists believe that China is getting jittery with the approaching winter as it is not on the upper side when it comes to having tactical gains. The India military have occupied some strategic heights—Magar Hill, Gurung Hill, Gorkha Hill and Reqin La, and are within their side of the LAC—under Operation Snow Leopard. The Army needs to be focused on maintaining troops there to protect the territory. Indian military planners believe that pulling back from freshly occupied heights will be a strategic disaster for India.
