Chinese soldiers entered India on horses last month: Reports

Amid a military confrontation between India and China, around 100 Chinese soldiers are reported to have entered Indian territory on horses last month.

According to a News18 report which quoted sources, 100 soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army entered Uttarakhand’s Barahoti on horses and stayed for “three hours”.

They had come through the Tunjun-La pass with 55 horses and were at least 5 kilometres inside Indian territory, according to an Economic Times report.

The report also quoted the sources as saying that the Chinese troops destroyed a foot bridge in Barahoti and left before the Indian forces arrived at the spot.

“By the time the Army and ITBP troops came, the PLA soldiers had left,” the sources added, according to the News18 report.

The incident happened on August 30, but Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said his government has “no such information”, according to the report.

Also read: China sets up tents on India side at Demchok in eastern Ladakh

The ET report said that locals had reported the transgression to authorities. It quoted an unnamed official as saying that the activities of the Chinese troops in the region have gone up recently, and that they had tried to “infiltrate Barahoti”.

The Barahoti area lies north of the Nanda Devi National Park and falls near the demilitarized zone. According to officials, there is a difference of perception about the exact border line.

The Indian Army and ITBP have camps in nearby Joshimath. The ITBP mans the 350 km border between Uttarakhand and China.

There have been confrontations between Indian and Chinese troops in the past, in Ladakh and Doklam area near Sikkim. Both the countries continue to maintain troops and artillery.

China is learnt to have constructed “new modular container-based accommodations” for its soldiers to beat the extreme cold and lack of oxygen at such high altitudes in Ladakh.