NEW DELHI, June 19 (UPI) -- India says it will take up the issue of recent incursions by the Chinese army into Indian territory.
Junior Defense Minister M.M. Pallam Raju said the government would take up with China at the highest level the issue of recent incursions by the People's Liberation Army into its territory along the Line of Actual Control.
Raju said the Indian army would raise the issue of incursions at the next flag meeting between the two armies, adding the matter also will be discussed at the highest political level. "As two responsible neighbors, we will sort it out," the minister said.
There have been 65 intrusions into the finger area in northern Sikkim state in the last six months. On June 16, 2007, PLA men entered the region in light vehicles and later returned to their territory.
Raju said it is unfortunate these have happened and the issue of Sikkim is being raised again. "Sikkim is a closed chapter as far as India is concerned," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of a military seminar.
China still stakes a claim over the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim, which Indians say is an integral part of India.
