India captures Chinese soldier who 'strayed across line of control' in border standoff

Fighting between the two armies left 20 Indian soldiers dead, and unspecified Chinese casualties, in June

An Indian army statement said the Chinese soldier was provided with medical assistance (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Indian army says it has arrested a Chinese soldier in Ladakh, where the two countries have been engaged in a months-long military standoff.

The soldier has been identified as Corporal Wang Ya Long of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and was “apprehended” on Monday in the Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh.

An Indian army statement said the Chinese soldier was provided with medical assistance including oxygen, food and warm clothes to “protect him from the vagaries of extreme altitude and harsh climatic conditions.” 

India and China are currently engaged in their worst military standoff since a 1962 war, which began in May after China accused India of building new infrastructure on disputed territory in the Himalayas.

In June, a hand-to-hand skirmish between the two sides at the border left 20 Indian soldiers dead, and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties.

A couple of days after the clash, 10 Indian army personnel captured by the Chinese army were returned to India.

The Indian army statement on Monday said the PLA had already been in contact regarding the missing soldier and that he would be handed back to Chinese officials after “the completion of formalities”.

Despite a series of military-level talks and diplomatic discussions, India and China continue to face off in Ladakh with neither side ready to back down. Both countries are estimated to have deployed around 50,000 additional troops, along with artillery, tanks and fighter plane support to maintain their positions in the cold-desert region where the temperatures can even go to minus 50 degree Celsius during winters.

The standoff between the two countries is ultimately a result of decades of unsolved border disputes, with China stating that it doesn’t recognise the new union territory of Ladakh or the state of Arunachal Pradesh, formed in the eighties.