New Delhi: Expressing his concern over incursion by the Chinese troops in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, defence expert former Air Force officer Praful Bakshi called on the Centre to issue a “very strong warning” to China and be prepared for “limited confrontation”.
“We cannot take it lightly. The government must give a very strong warning to China. We should be prepared for limited confrontation. If we fall back on that, and if we get sacred, then we will lose the game,” Bakshi told ANI.
Referring earlier attempts by China, Bakshi said they used to claim the land of Uttarakhand in their old map and have been committing such incursions from quite a long time.
“Twenty-thirty years back, they were claiming areas up to Saharanpur. The old cartographic system of China and the maps of China lay a lot of claims. When they are translating these claims on the ground, it becomes very serious and the recent incursion is like that,” he added.
Similarly, JD (U) leader K.C. Tyagi also regarded the issue as “quite serious” and suggested that an inquiry should be done to get better understanding to the situation.
“The border security and ITBP there are numbers of institution and they must find out the fact, because it is a very delicate matter. News of incursion was not coming for a long time. That is why inquiry has to be done,” Tyagi said.
Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Rawat confirmed an incursion by the Chinese troops in Chamoli district.
“The state revenue authorities were there for mapping of our land and they noticed their presence. Earlier, there were sporadic incidents, but this time it is happening at a larger scale. However, I think that there is nothing to be alarmed as the activities were noticed in Chinese territory,” Rawat told ANI.
However, later in the day Rawat, made a somersault saying there is an increase in the number of Chinese troops along the Indian border, but ruled out any incursion into Indian territory.
The last reported Chinese incursion in the state was when the word ‘China’ was inscribed on rocks near Mana Pass in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. (ANI)