Govt confirms Ladakh incident, says will continue to engage with China for Doklam solution

Face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh comes as the Asian giants are locked in a row in the remote Doklam plateau, which borders Sikkim in India’s northeast and is claimed by both Beijing and Bhutan.

India on Friday said it will continue to engage with China to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Doklam standoff, while confirming that “an incident” did take place with Chinese troops near Pangong Lake in Ladakh three days ago.

File photo of the Pangong lake in Ladakh, where a skirmish broke out between Indian and Chinese troops on August 15. (AP)

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said peace and tranquility in the border areas is an important pre-requisite for smooth development of bilateral relationship.

“We will continue to engage with China to find a mutually acceptable solution,” he said.

Asked about incident between Chinese troops and Indian border guards in Ladakh on August 15, the Kumar said, “I can confirm that there was an incident at Pangong Tso on August 15...Such incidents are not in the interest of either side.”

According to reports, Chinese soldiers were said to have attempted to cross the Line of Actual Control near Pangong Lake, but were stopped by Indian soldiers. Sources said, there was a heated exchange of words and a standoff between the troops continued for more than an hour, during which stone-pelting was also reported.

When asked whether China had shared hydrological data with India as floods have severely hit Assam and Bihar, Kumar said no such data was received from Beijing on Brahmaputra this year.

India and China have an existing mechanism under which both countries share hydrological data.

Kumar said non sharing of hydrological data by China cannot be linked to the current standoff as there can be technical reasons for it.