Chinese troops return from Chepzi after flag meeting

New Delhi: 20 Chinese soldiers, who had last week entered Indian territory near the LAC and pitched their tents in Chepzi area in Ladakh, have returned after a flag meeting between the two sides, sources said on Monday.

Around 20-22 Chinese People`s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had last week pitched around 8-10 tents in the west of Chepzi in Ladakh area. They returned after the flag meeting on Saturday, the sources said. Chepzi is close to Chumar area, which has been witness to a large number of incursions by the Chinese side in the last one year. In April, Chinese troops had entered 19 km inside Indian territory in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector and left the place only after long negotiations and a series of flag meetings between the two sides. The reports about the Chinese camp in the area have come soon after PLA troops apprehended five Indian nationals in the Chumar area and took them to their camp across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an apparent bid to stake their claim on the area. Chumar has been one of the most active areas on the LAC in terms of transgressions by the Chinese troops. Located 300 km from Leh, it has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only place along the Sino-Indian border where they do not have any direct access to the LAC.