Amidst rising tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the controversial NDTV has yet again resorted to peddling fake news concerning matters that are critical to national security.
On Sunday, NDTV that has a complicated relationship with the truth published a source-based report claiming that an Indian patrol party of the army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were detained by the Chinese troops and later released.
According to NDTV, the detention of Indian troops happened during the latest stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops.
According to ‘sources’ close to NDTV, the report said that during a scuffle between the two sides in Ladakh earlier this week, the Chinese troops had snatched the weapons of ITBP, which was later handed back and the Indian jawans also returned.
“The situation became very volatile last Wednesday when a scuffle between Indian jawans and the Chinese resulted in the detention of some of our jawans but later they were released,” reported NDTV quoting a source.
The situation was finally defused after a border meeting of commanders from both sides, reported NDTV.
India Today also cited “sources” to peddle the same news.
Fake news: Indian Army rubbishes NDTV report
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has categorically denied reports of NDTV, which suggested that Indian troops were detained by the Chinese.
The Indian Army has said no troops patrolling the border have been detained by the Chinese troops. “This is not true,” stated an officer speaking to ANI.
Despite clarification from the Indian Army, NDTV has neither chosen to clarify for their misinformation nor deleted their original report.
Chinese troops deployment near Ladakh
The tension between India and China have escalated since last week after reports emerged that China had deployed excessive troops and set up temporary tents across the Galwan river in Ladakh after a face-off near Pangong Tso on May 5-6.
It is also believed that Chinese troops have also taken up positions along the Pangong Tso Lake and are also carrying out aggressive patrols with motorboats to intimidate Indian forces in the region. Reportedly, the Chinese troops have damaged some temporary structures put up in the finger area near Pangong Tso Lake.
The face-offs, which started as a little skirmish initiated by the Chinese troops, later took a serious turn after the Chinese side brought in troops and heavy equipment from a military exercise.
Troops clashed in Eastern sector
The Galwan stand-off comes at the backdrop of a recent incident where troops of both India and China were involved in two face-offs in a span of a week in the Eastern Ladakh and near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector along the contentious border between the two countries.
In the first incident, the Chinese army personnel had clashed with Indian forces along the northern bank of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh on May 5. The face-off ended the next morning following dialogue between the two sides. A number of soldiers on both sides had sustained minor injuries
Just days before, in another incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel had engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector of the Sino-India border in which at least 10 soldiers sustained injuries.
