Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said that he interacted with soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Sino-Indian border near Tawang.
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The interaction took place during a visit to an Indian Army post on the occasion of Diwali.
In a short video, posted on X, the union minister of parliamentary and minority affairs was seen talking to three PLA soldiers through an interpreter.
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He sought to know how the soldiers were managing while being posted in such a high-altitude area, which is located 15,000 feet above sea level.
In response, the Chinese soldiers said that they had no problems while serving in such areas and they were comfortable, according to PTI.
“After talking to Chinese soldiers and seeing the infrastructures, everyone will feel proud of India’s border development now,” Rijiju wrote in his post on X.
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The union minister, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, also interacted and spent time with Indian Army jawans and celebrated Diwali with them.
“Since you are far away from home during Diwali, we have also decided to be away from home and spend time with you,” Rijiju said.
India-China LAC issue
The union minister’s interaction with the Chinese soldiers comes a week after India announced that it had reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, in a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff.
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The announcement was followed by a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the recent BRICS summit in Russia.
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Indian and Chinese troops also exchanged sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the occasion of Diwali. This traditional practice also came on the heels of a major breakthrough – the completion of disengagement at two friction points in eastern Ladakh’s Demchok and Depsang Plains.
India and China’s relations deteriorated because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. The relations hit rock bottom on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley.
