India returns captured PLA soldier to China
New Delhi: The Indian Army on Monday handed back to China a soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), three days after apprehending him at the southern bank of Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh, official sources said.
The soldier was returned to China at the Chushul-Moldo border point in eastern Ladakh at 10.10 am, they added.
The Chinese soldier was captured at the southern bank of Pangong lake in the early hours of Friday after he transgressed across the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“The PLA soldier, who was apprehended on January 8, was handed back to China at Chushul-Moldo at 10.10 am on Monday,” a source said.
Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over eight months. The faceoff began in May last year, following a clash between the two sides in the Pangong lake area.
“The PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area. Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilisation and forward concentration by Chinese troops,” the Army said in a statement on Saturday.
Following the capture of the soldier by the Indian Army, China had sought his immediate return on Saturday.
It was the second such incident of India capturing and subsequently returning a Chinese soldier in the last three months.
