5 missing Arunachal youths to be handed over by China on Saturday: Kiren Rijiju

Guwahati: Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju today confirmed that the five youths from Arunachal Pradesh who had strayed across the border to the Chinese side earlier this month would be handed back to India on Saturday.

"The Chinese PLA has confirmed to the 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. 12 September, 2020 at a designated location," Rijiju tweeted on Friday.

The five youths had gone missing on September 2 from Sera-7 on the Indian side of the McMohan line bifurcating Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet autonomous region (TAR) of China. The youths belonging Tagin tribe, who used to work as porters for the Indian Army.

A brother of one of the youths took to social media to inform that the missing youths had been 'abducted' by the Chinese PLA. Tapir Gao, BJP MP from Arunachal East, and Congress MLA from Pasighat Ninong Ering tweeted about this development, following which the story went viral on social media. The disappearance of the youths and the allegation of their 'abduction' by PLA had added to the heightened tension between both countries currently engaged in a standoff at the LAC along Ladakh.

It is pertinent to mention here that China's People's Liberation Army had informed on Tuesday that the youths have been found on their side.

"The youths, who were hunting in the area, had inadvertently crossed over to the other side. The PLA informed us that they all are okay. Formalities for their early transfer are being coordinated with the Chinese side," Lt Col Harsh Wardhan Pande, PRO (Defence), Tezpur, Assam, had informed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, China has reportedly said that it does not recognize Arunachal Pradesh, which it considers a part of its south Tibet region. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has been quoted as saying, "China has never recognized so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh', which is China's south Tibet region, and we have no details to release yet about the question on Indian Army sending a message to PLA about five missing Indians in the region".

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