A councillor of one of the villages along the China border in Ladakh on Thursday requested Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to allot alternative land for the border residents in Leh city as a “war-like” situation prevailed in the area for the past one year.
Mr. Singh was in Chushul in eastern Ladakh to inaugurate a revamped war memorial.
Chushul’s councillor Konchok Stanzin handed a three-page letter to Mr. Singh where he also mentioned how the Indian Army blocked the locals from accessing certain grazing grounds while on the other hand the Chinese gave unfettered freedom to their nomads to move.
“The Chinese have given unfettered freedom to their nomads to move freely. They [Chinese], very often, use their nomads community to transgress on our land in a step-by-step approach. Sadly, the movement of the nomads belonging to this side of border are restricted by Indian Army from grazing their livestock on the traditional pastureland from Hot Spring, Finger Area to Kailash Range [Nyanlung Yokma/Gongma]. The nomads on the Indian side are soldiers without uniform,” Mr. Stanzin’s letter stated.
He suggested that a trading point with China be opened at Chushul, on the lines of what exists at Lipulekh in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim.
Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a stand-off at various points in eastern Ladakh since April-May 2020.
India and China have held 13 rounds of senior Commanders talks so far for complete disengagement from all the friction points but the meetings have remained inconclusive.
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