China to hand over missing Arunachal men to Indian Army at Wacha border

The Chinese PLA has confirmed to Indian Army to hand over the youths from Arunachal Pradesh to our side. The handing over is likely to take place anytime tomorrow i.e. 12th September 2020 at a designated location. https://t.co/UaM9IIZl56

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 11, 2020

Five Indian nationals who went missing from Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, who were found in China, will be handed over to India. The handoff will take place at Wacha near Kibithu border personnel meeting point, a source in the Indian Army said.

Earlier on Friday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had also hinted at a similar exchange. In a tweet, he had said, “The Chinese PLA has confirmed to Indian Army to hand over the youths from Arunachal Pradesh to our side. The handing over is likely to take place anytime tomorrow i.e. 12th September 2020 at a designated location.”

The PLA had informed the Indian Army that five men who went missing from Arunachal Pradesh were found in China. “Further modalities to handover the persons to our authority is being worked out,” Union Minister Rijiju had said in a tweet at the time.

The matter was first brought to the attention of authorities when family members of the missing men claimed in social media posts that their kin had been taken by the Chinese Army while hunting near the border. In fact, two of the men who were part of the same group had managed to escape and immediately alert local police in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district.

The missing men have been identified as Toch Singkam, Prasat Ringling, Dongtu Ebiya, Tanu Baker and Ngaru Diri. All of them hail from Nacho area of Arunachal’s Upper Subansiri district. Nacho is the last administrative circle along the McMahon Line.

This exchange comes at a crucial time when India and China are engaged in an intense military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Both countries have been actively holding military and diplomatic dialogue to achieve disengagement in the region in the aftermath of PLA’s bid to alter the status quo in that part of Ladakh in May of this year.