New Delhi: A surveillance drone reportedly crashed in Ladakh on Monday leading to the suspension of all civil flights to the region where the militaries of India and China have been primarily engaged in a standoff position since May 2020.
Following the crash, all civil flights have been suspended, IANS reported. The drone was provided by DRDO to the Indian Army for surveillance at high-altitude areas of Lines of Actual Control (LAC), it added even though there was no official confirmation either from the Army or Ladakh administration of the same.
India and China continue to have a border standoff in the region that first erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy weaponry.
The Indian and Chinese armies on September 8, 2022, announced that they have kicked off the disengagement process from the PP-15, in a significant forward movement in the stalled process to pull-out troops from the remaining friction points in the region. India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the LAC were key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.
Recently, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande said that the situation in Ladakh was “stable but unpredictable". General Pande said that there is a need to very carefully calibrate “our actions on Line of Actual Control (LAC) to be able to safeguard our interests and sensitivities". “We all know what the Chinese say and what they do is quite different. It is also a part of their nature and character. We need to focus on their actions rather than what is on their texts or scripts or their articulation," he said.
