Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Chinese officials demand removal of Indian bunkers in Sikkim


Gangtok, Oct 9 :Amid China's continued attempts to lay claim on certain Indian territories, its army personnel recently demanded removal of two bunkers on the border in Sikkim, which was rejected.Chinese troops are also believed to have intruded in Bhutan, whose defence is largely handled by India, causing concern here, government sources said today.Some Chinese personnel came to a border point in Sikkim and demanded removal of two bunkers, the sources said.The demand was outrightly rejected and the Chinese officials said the issue will be dealt with diplomatically, they said."No bunker was removed and nothing happened later," a source said.Seeking to play down the incident, the sources said it might have been a case of some local officials exceeding their powers.They, however, acknowledge that Chinese army personnel keep on transgressing at certain places along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an attempt to assert their claim on certain Indian territories.Indian troops also do such things."We (India and China) have different perceptions of LAC... We know where the differences are," the source said, adding the issue is being addressed in the ongoing talks on boundary question.The Chinese army might have intruded in Bhutan, apparently to push the latter to resolve the border issue, the sources said."We are concerned," a source said, adding India is checking it up with both Bhutan and China.

PTI