India seeks Chinese Army assistance to locate missing youth

THE Indian Army has sought cooperation from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to trace a missing boy on their side and return him under the established protocol, sources in the country’s defence establishment said on Thursday (20).

The boy, Miram Taron, hails from the north-eastern most state of Arunachal Pradesh, a province which China also claims to be its.

Tapir Gao, a parliamentarian from Arunachal Pradesh, on Wednesday (19) said that the PLA abducted the 17-year-old Taron on Tuesday (18) from the state’s Upper Siang district.

Sources in India’s defence establishment said that when the Indian Army received information about the missing teen, it immediately contacted the PLA through the established mechanism of hotline informing that an individual, who was collecting herbs and hunting, lost his way and could not be tracked.

Assistance was sought from the PLA to locate him on the Chinese side and return as per the established protocol, the sources added.

According to Gao, the incident happened near the place where the Tsangpo river enters India in Arunachal Pradesh. The river is called Siang in Aruanchal and Brahmaputra in Assam.

The parliamentarian said he has spoken to India’s minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik about the incident and requested him to take necessary action.

It may be mentioned here that in September 2020, the PLA had abducted five youths from Aruanchal’s Upper Subansiri district and released them after about a week.

The latest incident has happened at a time when the Indian Army continues to face the PLA in eastern Ladakh since April 2020.

The two nuclear-armed neighbours have held 14 rounds of military-level talks to resolve their border standoff. However, the process of disengagement is yet to be completed in various areas in eastern Ladakh, including Hot Springs, Depsang bulge and.

Both countries currently have around 50,000 to 60,000 troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

India shares a 3,400 kilometre-long LAC with China extending from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.