Chinese Soldier Captured on Indian Side of LAC in Ladakh, Questioning Underway

A Chinese soldier has been apprehended by the army on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) south of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, the flashpoint of months-long border tension between India and China.

According to sources, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier was captured during the early hours of Friday. “The PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area… The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated,” an official said.

This is the second instance of a PLA soldier being captured on the Indian side of LAC in recent months. In October last year, a corporal from the Chinese army was apprehended in Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh. He was returned to the Chinese military at the Chushul-Moldo border point after completion of formalities three days later.

India and China have so far held multiple rounds of talks to deescalate tensions in the region as troops from both sides faced a freezing winter in the mountains. Tensions soared in June, after troops clashed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan valley in Ladakh, abutting the Chinese-held Tibetan plateau.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed, with China suffering an undisclosed number of casualties, and both sides ramped up their military presence, moving men, weapons and supplies to the high-altitude desert region.