China Wall on Leh road

Nov. 30: China’s latest act of objecting to the construction of roads on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh has injected bitterness in Sino-Indian relations.
According to official sources, the incident took place at the village of Demchok on the Indian side of LAC, about 300 km south-east of Leh district headquarters.

Work on the road, taken under the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), which was to connect two villages — the last inhabited areas on the LAC on the Sino-Indian border in Demchok — was stopped during the last week of October. After the construction of nearly 3.8 km of road, the Chinese Army sought a flag meeting with the Indian Army and raised strong objections to the road as they consider the area as disputed.
No official statement was forthcoming from New Delhi, but political parties were quick to seize the issue.
The BJP termed it a serious matter. It demanded that the government take up the issue with China. The BJP spokesperson, Mr Prakash Javadekar, also said that the party will raise the issue in Parliament.

The Congress party said that countries should respect India’s sentiments and borders. “We respect other countries and other countries should also respect our sentiments, our achievements and our borders,” the Congress spokesperson Mr Shakeel Ahmed said. At the same time, he said that it is for the government to say more on the issue.