According to a military spokesman, China has returned an Indian citizen who “illegally” entered Chinese territory near the contentious boundary between the two Asian giants.
China’s notification came after India’s defence ministry announced last week that it had contacted China to request that it locate and release Miram Tarom, a 17-year-old Indian who had gone missing near the nations’ shared border and had been “reportedly kidnapped” by the Chinese military.
Tarom was handed up to the Indian army at a border station in the northeastern province of Arunachal Pradesh, according to Indian federal minister Kiren Rijiju.
Although China’s release did not explicitly state that the returned Indian citizen was Tarom, it did issue a warning to New Delhi.
“We strongly urge the Indian side to adhere to bilateral accords, increase personnel management and control, and work diligently to maintain normalcy in border areas.”
Colonel Long Shaohua, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Western Theatre Command, said the Indian citizen was discovered by Chinese border guards during a patrol in recent days.
Long stated in a statement posted on WeChat that the individual “illegally entered Chinese land and was then routinely questioned, quarantined, and observed in accordance with applicable border control regulations, and given humanitarian assistance.”
After conversations between the Indian military and the Chinese side, the man was returned, he claimed, after India first requested China’s assistance in a search.
“I thank our proud Indian Army for meticulously pursuing the case with PLA and safely securing our young boy’s return home,” Rijiju, an Arunachal Pradesh lawmaker, said on Twitter.
“All proper processes, including the medical examination, are being followed,” he stated.
China claims the entirety of Arunachal Pradesh as part of its Tibet province, and India and China have regularly battled over their long and disputed Himalayan border.
At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in clashes in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in 2020.
In recent years, several Indian people have gone missing near the border, which New Delhi has frequently claimed were kidnap attempts by China, which Beijing denies.
