Indian drone crashes after entering Chinese airspace
Latest incident between the two Asian giants comes ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to New Delhi next week
Beijing accused India of infringing on its territorial sovereignty after an Indian drone “invaded” Chinese airspace before crashing, triggering fresh tensions between the two nations ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to New Delhi.
India said the incident was caused by a “technical problem”, but Beijing said it was “dissatisfied with” and opposed India’s drone activities.
No details were given about when the incident happened, with Beijing only saying it occurred “recently” at the border separating India’s northeastern Sikkim state and China’s Tibet region.
The Indian army said the drone was on a regular training mission inside the “Indian territory” but had lost contact with ground control due to a technical problem and crossed over the line of control in Sikkim.
The Indian army said it immediately alerted its Chinese counterparts to find the drone.
“The exact cause of the incident is under investigation. The matter is being dealt with in accordance with the established protocols through institutional mechanisms to deal with situations along the India-China border,” the army said in a statement.
