Thread by @ians_india

Even as the Central government has never admitted it, #China had occupied 640 sq km of Indian territory in Eastern #Ladakh during the second term of the #UPA regime under Prime Minister #ManmohanSingh.

Photo: IANS (File)

In 2013, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran after his visit to the region had informed the government that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) patrol had set a new Line of Actual Control (#LAC), thus occupying 640 sq km of #Indian territory in Eastern #Ladakh.

The undemarcated #LAC came into existence when China in 1962 occupied Aksai Chin, an uninhabited high-altitude wasteland of the fmr state of #JammuandKashmir, and now part of the Union Territory of #Ladakh. The state was bifurcated into two Union Territories in August last year.

The land grab in 2013 by the PLA happened after India had signed 9 agreements,including the #BDCA,the same yr in Mar ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India.Incidentally,proposal for BDCA was presented by China,which had been keen to get it signed before Li's visit.

Though China undermined the agreement soon after it was signed when it led an incursion in Depsang area of #Ladakh in Apr,the standoff at #Doklam & now at both Eastern (AP & Sikkim)&Western (Ladakh)frontiers between the two countries has left the sanctity of the #BDCA in tatters.