In a unique faceoff on the international border in Sikkim, the Indian and Chinese troops tried to calm things down with a friendly exchange of beer and rasgullas.
The faceoff happened near the Tangkar La (pass) at the height of over 16,000 feet in eastern Sikkim after a Chinese patrol entered into the territory claimed by India, sources said.
The Indian patrol intercepted the Chinese patrol at the pass. The two sides showed banners to each other asking to leave the area and go back into their respective territories.
The Chinese patrol, which was travelling in two light vehicles, was monitored by the Indian team comprising a young lieutenant and nine jawans there, sources said.
At the time of parting, the Chinese troops presented cans of beer to the Indian patrol party while our troops gifted them a pack of rasgullas, sources added.
Over the recent few months, there have been a spate of incursions from the Chinese side into the Indian territory along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), between the two sides stretching from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir in north to Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.
On the transgressions by the Chinese troops, defence minister A.K. Antony had recently said that “there is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. There are areas along the border where India and China have different perceptions of the LAC and both sides undertake patrols up to their respective positions there”. “On account of differences in perception of LAC, certain transgression incidents do take place on ground. Government regularly takes up any transgression with the Chinese side through established mechanisms,” he had said.