India returns PLA soldier who had strayed across LAC to China
A Chinese soldier, who was captured by Indian forces after he strayed into the Indian side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) at eastern Ladakh was handed back to China on Tuesday (October 20) night, NDTV reported.
The soldier named Corporal Wang Ya Long, was found by Indian troops in the Chumar-Demchok area. He was reportedly quizzed by experts on China before being returned.
Army in a statement on Monday had said that it has received a request from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to hand over Ya Long and that it would comply as per protocol.
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The Army said it has provided the captured soldier with medical assistance, food and warm clothes “to protect him from the vagaries of extreme altitude and harsh climatic conditions.”
China, however, has claimed that Ya Long lost his way while helping local herdsmen find a yak.
“We hope the Indian side will live up to its promise to hand over the missing Chinese soldier as soon as possible and implement the consensus reached by the two sides in the 7th round of Senior Commanders meeting, so as to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” Senior Colonel Zhang Suili, spokesperson for the Western Theater Command of PLA was quoted as saying.
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The development comes in the backdrop of a prolonged standoff between Indian and Chinese troops along the LAC since May. It escalated when 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers died in a clash in Galwan Valley in June.
Ever since, there have been multiple military and diplomat-level talks to defuse the situation at the LAC and disengage both the troops from key friction points in eastern Ladakh.