PLA Soldier Held on Indian Side of LAC Handed Back to China: Army

The Chinese soldier was apprehended on the Indian side of the LAC in the area south of Pangong Tso Lake on Friday.

Indian Army said that the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area. Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Indian Army has said that the Chinese soldier apprehended on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the area South of Pangong Tso Lake on 8 January has been handed back to China at Chushul-Moldo at 10.10 AM on Monday, 11 January, according to ANI.

The Indian Army had said that the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in the area.

Earlier, China Military Online, a news portal run by the military's official PLA Daily, said that Indian authorities should ‘promptly transfer’ the soldier back to China and ‘jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border area’, reported Reuters.

“The Indian side should strictly adhere to relevant agreements reached by the two countries and waste no time to return the lost soldier to the Chinese side, so as to add positive factors for de-escalating the border tensions between the two countries and jointly maintaining peace and tranquillity in the China-India border areas,” it said.

“The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC, which is being investigated,” the Indian Army stated.

Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilisation and forward concentration by Chinese troops.

On 28 August, 2020 and 29 August, 2020, Indian troops in a precautionary deployment pre-empted Chinese expansionist designs and occupied heights along the southern bank of Pangong Tso.

The soldier on Friday had been caught transgressing the same region.

(With inputs from ANI.)