India hands over captured Chinese soldier to PLA

07:56 October 21

India hands over captured Chinese soldier to PLA

New Delhi: The Indian Army handed over Chinese soldier Corporal Wang Ya Long to China's People's Liberation Army Army at the Chushul Moldo meeting point on Tuesday night, the Chinese state media reported.

"The Indian side handed back the Chinese soldier who got lost in the border area to the Chinese side early Wednesday morning. His safe return brings an optimistic message to the tense China-India border. It is hoped the cooperation can grow into more mutual trust between the two," Hu Xinjin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese-state mouthpiece Global Times tweeted.

Earlier on October 19, the Chinese soldier was apprehended by the Indian Army in the Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh after he had "strayed" across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The incident came amid a massive deployment of troops by the two militaries in the region following the border standoff since May.

The Indian Army said in a statement that the soldier, a Corporal in the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), was identified as Wang Ya Long. It had said that Long would be returned to the Chinese military at the Chushul-Moldo border point after completion of formalities.

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At a regular Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing on October 20, spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked if he had any update on the missing PLA soldier.

He said that the PLA Western Theater Command spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang had already released a statement on the Chinese soldier who went missing in the China-India border region while helping a herdsman looking for lost yaks.

(With inputs from agencies)