‘Snag-hit’ drone crosses LAC, China protests

New Delhi/Beijing, December 7

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Indian Army crashed around Doklam in the Sikkim sector after it “crossed” the border into China following a technical problem, prompting Beijing to lodge a diplomatic protest with India.

Sources in Delhi said the Indian security forces in Nathu La informed the Chinese army over the hotline about the UAV crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after a technical problem.

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The Ministry of Defence said its border security personnel immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV. The Chinese later reverted with its location. It, however, did not give details of when the UAV had crashed but sources said the incident occurred 10 days ago.

The incident comes to light days before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Delhi to attend the Russia-India-China trilateral meeting on December 11.

The MoD said the exact cause of the incident is under investigation. “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 (to) the LAC in the Sikkim sector,” it said in a statement. — PTI