Dehradun: China has increased its troop deployment near Lipulekh, the place that became a trigger for strained relations between New Delhi and Kathmandu.
Lipulekh is a tri-junction between India, Nepal and China situated atop the Kalapani Valley in Uttarakhand.
Sources said that China has deployed 150 Light Combined Arms Brigade. The brigade was moved in two weeks ago from Tibet towards the Lipulekh tri-junction in China.
The Indian authorities have come to know two weeks ago that Chinese troops were reinforced in Pala, around 10 km from the border.
In July itself, around 1,000 troops were deployed near Pala and a permanent post was built there by China. “A fortnight back, 2,000 more additional troops were deployed at the post,” sources said.
India’s road construction to Lipulekh lake at 17,000 feet had sparked a diplomatic row between India and Nepal as Kathmandu claimed the area to be its territory. The road will shorten the travel time for pilgrims visiting the Kailash Mansarovar. Nepal also brought out a new political map showing the contested area as its own.
