[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: The Indian military alerted China to allegations that five men were abducted by the People’s Liberation Army from an area near the disputed border, a minister said on Sunday, amid rising tensions among neighbors with guns nuclear.
Relations between the Asian giants have deteriorated since a clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
India’s Minister of State for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also a legislator for the isolated border state of Arunachal Pradesh, said a military hotline had been activated aimed at defusing border tensions over the possible kidnapping.
“The Indian Army has already sent a hotline message to the establishment of the counterpart PLA at the Arunachal Pradesh border point. A response is expected, ”he tweeted.
Northeast India state police told local media that they were investigating claims made on Facebook by an alleged relative of one of the men that the PLA had abducted them.
The Arunachal Times reported Saturday that the men were hunting when they were allegedly kidnapped.
It was not immediately clear when they might have disappeared.
The alleged incident comes amid talks between Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of an international meeting in Moscow.
Singh said they had “frank” discussions Friday night about their disputed border with the Himalayas and the strained relations between the world’s two most populous countries.
The couple issued rival statements accusing each other of fueling the confrontation.
Since the deadly incident in June, India has stepped up economic pressure by banning Chinese apps, blocking Chinese goods at ports, and preventing its companies from bidding on contracts.
India and China went to war in 1962 over Arunachal Pradesh, a strategically important border area, with Chinese troops temporarily capturing part of the Himalayan territory.
The dispute remains unresolved.
China’s stakes claim around 90,000 square kilometers of the area, almost all that constitutes Arunachal Pradesh.
