NEW DELHI, July 27 - Chinese troops recently violated the border in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand area and were seen camping along with arms despite the two nations having agreed to keep it a demilitarised area.
The incident took place on July 19 when a team led by the Chamoli District Magistrate and others, including officials from the ITBP, went for a survey of the Barahoti ground, official sources said.
The sources said that the civilian team was sent back by Chinese People�s Liberation Army troops, who claimed it to be their land.
The 80 square-kilometre ground has been agreed by the two countries to be a disputed part since 1957 and was to be sorted out at the negotiating table by the two sides.
Over the past few years, Chinese troops have been spotted in the area and even air violations have taken place in this area, the sources said.
The Chinese side had sent in a delegation on April 19, 1958 for negotiations with their Indian counterparts and both sides had agreed not to send troops into the area but had avoided a discussion on final settlement of the Barahoti ground.
The sources said that ever since this agreement, the ITBP, which mans the 3,488-km Sino-Indian border from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in the North-East, had never entered the area with arms. � PTI
