Army chief calls off Bhutan visit

With the matter of the incursion by Chinese troops into Ladakh yet to be resolved, Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag has called-off his four-day visit to Bhutan which was scheduled to start today.
The Army chief may now go to Bhutan at some other mutually convenient time, Army sources said.
The decision to put off the trip has been taken at a time when, for the last more than 10 days, Chinese troops have been sitting on this side of the Indian boundary in Chumar area of Ladakh.
Chinese troops have pitched their tents in the area and Chinese helicopters were seen dropping food packets for the soldiers, although none of them violated the air space. The food packets were later collected by the PLA personnel.

Tension in the area erupted on Sunday when some Chinese workers, who were constructing a road on their side, crossed into the Indian side and also claimed that they had orders to build a road up to Tible, 5-km deep inside Indian territory.
Chumar was at the centre of the fortnight-long stand-off last year in Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) as the Chinese side had objected to overhead bunkers erected by the Indian side.
As part of an agreement reached at the flag meeting to end that impasse in April-May 2013 at DBO, the Indian side had to dismantle some overhead bunkers in the Chumar area.

During winter this year, Chinese soldiers attempted to enter the area riding on horses. The area has witnessed frequent incursion attempts by Chinese troops.