NEW DELHI: India on Thursday said its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crossed over the LAC in the Sikkim sector after losing control with the ground due to some technical reasons.
Earlier, China protested what it called “intrusion” of the UAV into its territory, according to official Chinese news agency Xinhua, following which, the Defence Ministry issued a statement on the incident.
“An Indian UAV which was on a regular training mission inside the Indian territory lost contact with the ground control due to some technical problem and crossed over the LAC in the Sikkim Sector,” the Defence Ministry said.
As per standard protocol, the Indian border security personnel immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV. In response, the Chinese side reverted with the location details of the UAV, it said.
“The exact cause of the incident is under investigation,” the Defence Ministry said. “The matter is being dealt with in accordance with the established protocols through institutional mechanisms to deal with situations along the India- China border areas,” it said.
Earlier, Xinhua quoted deputy head of the combat bureau of the Western Theatre Command’s joint staff department Shuili zhang as saying, ”India’s move has infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty, and we are strong strongly dissatisfied with and opposed to this.” (agencies)
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