Popular Indian tourism spot threatened by a stand-off with China

Far away from the remote corner of Ladakh, where a Chinese platoon has set up camp 10 km inside Indian territory, it is life as usual in Leh.

Far away from the remote corner of Ladakh, where a Chinese platoon has set up camp 10 km inside Indian territory, it is life as usual in Leh.

Hoteliers are preparing for the tourist season with summer vacations round the corner and are worried that media attention on the border tension might impact business.

Nisar Ahmed, who owns a hotel in Leh, says he would not even have known about the Chinese incursion had it not been for the “media hype.”

ut he admits many tourists are making worried inquiries on whether Leh is safe. “Leh is very normal. Tourist groups are making inquiries, but we have had no cancellation yet,” Mr Ahmad told NDTV.

Ladakh is a popular tourist destination, both for Indian and overseas travellers.

The Army assesses that the stand-off with China at the Line of Actual Control could continue for weeks. Talks, both at the diplomatic and local military levels, have not yielded results. China continues to insist that its troops are not stationed in Indian territory. The Chinese platoon set up camp in the Depsang Valley on April 15.

India has reiterated the need to prevent the escalation of hostilities and the Indian Army has ruled a military response to the situation.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will undertake a visit of China on May 9 in a bid to diplomatically resolve a bilateral impasse over the presence of Chinese troops inside Indian Territory in the Ladakh region.

Media reports said Khurshid’s visit would take place ahead of a visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India later next month.

With New Delhi attaching significance to Li’s first visit abroad after becoming Prime Minister last month, Khurshid, who is currently on a visit to Kazakhstan and Russia, has exuded confidence about both countries being able to resolve the situation arising out of the incursion.

The minister has reiterated that there is a joint working mechanism between Beijing and New Delhi to deal with such issues, and added that both countries needed to allow that mechanism to work to find a solution.

This past week, Khurshid has said that these disputes occur because there is variance of perception about the demarcation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India had earlier this week, asked China to revert back to the status quo position in Depsang Valley after Chinese forces intruded ten kilometers inside Ladakh ten days ago.

Beijing has maintained that China and India are neighbours and the boundary is yet to be demarcated, and therefore, it is inevitable that problems related to border areas will arise from time to time.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said all problems could be resolved through friendly consultations via existing mechanisms and channels.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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