Indian Intel Agencies Report Multiple Violations of Airspace by Chinese Military

Even as India is making efforts to reset ties with China ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the northern neighbor in June this year, the country’s intelligence agencies have warned the government of repeated violations of Indian airspace by Chinese military aircraft.

New Delhi (Sputnik): Chinese military helicopters have violated Indian airspace multiple times in the last one month, India's intelligence agencies have claimed in a report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

READ MORE: Indian Defense Minister to Visit China Amid Continuing Tensions

The report, reviewed by Sputnik, said that two Chinese military helicopters had entered 19 kilometers into Indian airspace in Ladakh's Trig Heights and Depsang Valley on February 27 and hovered for around 5 minutes above Indian Army posts. On March 10, three helicopters of the Chinese military had breached Indian airspace near Barhoti in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and flew four kilometers into Indian territory. Two days before that, two Chinese military helicopters had entered Indian airspace near the Track junction of Ladakh. Both helicopters hovered 18 kilometers inside the Indian territory for about five minutes.  

Last year in July, a similar incident had been reported near Barhoti, but the Indian government downplayed the incident by claiming it was a result of "no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the border areas between India and China." 

"There are areas along the LAC including Uttarakhand, where both sides have a differing perception of LAC. Government regularly takes up any transgression/air space violation along the LAC with the Chinese side through established mechanisms such as border personnel meetings, flag meetings, meetings of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs and diplomatic channels," India's Ministry of Defense said in parliament on 21 July 2017.

READ MORE: Chinese Transgressions Result of Differing Perceptions of Border: Indian Def Min

Last year, India and China witnessed a bitter standoff between its military following an alleged attempt by the Chinese side to construct a road near Doklam — a disputed tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. The conflict ended after both the governments mutually agreed to disengage troops on 28 August, 2017.

Since then, India and China have been trying to reset their troubled relation, especially ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sideline of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Qingdao on June 9 and 10 this year.