Indian soldiers detained by China last week, released later: Report

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A patrol party of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetian Border Police (ITBP) were detained and released by the Chinese forces earlier this week, NDTV has reported quoting sources.

According to the report, the situation was defused after a border meeting of commanders from both sides.

"The situation became very volatile last Wednesday when a scuffle between Indian jawans and the Chinese resulted in detention of some of our jawans but later they were released," a senior bureaucrat told the news channel.

The report suggests that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has been appraised about the situation and the Indian forces have also briefed the PMO regarding the sequence of events.

According to the senior official quoted above by the news channel, the Chinese forces had also snatched the weapons of the ITBP jawans. They were, however, returned later.

The Chinese, according to the report, had managed to enter Indian territory and were conducting patrols with motor boats in Pangong lake.

"It was a massive build up but now things have calmed down a bit. But it's not over yet," a senior officer said.

Reports adds that the Chinese military is fast increasing its troops in areas around Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, sending a clear signal that it was not ready to end its confrontation with the Indian Army yet.

Also read | China deploys more patrol boats on Ladakh's Pangong lake, objects to road work by India: Report

According to the NDTV report, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is getting daily briefings on the situation, and it was only after one such review that the decision to increase security set up in that region was taken.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The Chinese side has particularly bolstered its presence in the Galwan Valley, erecting around 100 tents in the last two weeks and bringing in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers, notwithstanding the stiff protest by Indian troops, reports suggest.

The situation in Eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 150 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage" following a meeting at the level of local commanders.