Control your press: Chinese to Indians

There is one advice by the Chinese that seems to have gone down well with the Indian side. This one’s about curbing the media.

There is one advice by the Chinese that seems to have gone down well with the Indian side. This one’s about curbing the media.

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At a flag meeting between border personnel of India and China a few days ago, Indians raised the issue of recent violations of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by the Chinese troops in general area of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.

China as usual dismissed reports in the Indian media alleging that Chinese troops had entered the border in Ladakh and painting the rocks and boulders red on July 31 and also that its helicopter had violated the Indian airspace in the same area on June 21.

"These reports are groundless and untrue. Our border patrols are carried out strictly according to relevant regulations,” a Chinese army official is understood to have told his Indian counterparts at the meeting. "We will never cross the border and enter other countries' airspace or territory."

However, the official of the rank of a Colonel, had a piece of advice for the Indian border personnel, a senior defence ministry official told HT, requesting anonymity since he is not authorised to talk to the press.

“Your media is creating too much hype about these incidents. Control your media,” the Chinese colonel told his Indian counterparts.

This is one issue on which the two sides seem to have some sort of an agreement.

It is well known that the Indian army, defence and external affairs ministries always seek to play down media reports on Chinese incursions.

Their standard line: “There is no mutually agreed LAC. The incursions or violations of airspace happen from both the sides due to difference in perception over the LAC.”

Indian defence ministry and army officials quite often request the media not to not hype such incidents.