Bad weather delays Arunachal youth’s return from China

New Delhi, Jan 26: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, said on Wednesday that China's People Liberation Army responded "positively" regarding the return of Arunachal youth Miram Taron from China. He added that bad weather had delayed the return of Arunachal youth Miram Taron from China.

 

 

Notably, Rijiju’s party colleague Tapir Gao, MP from the state, had last week stated that the PLA had abducted Taron from the Indian side of the border. Constantly giving updates about this matter, Rijiju tweeted on Wednesday, “Hotline exchanged on Republic Day by Indian Army with Chinese PLA. PLA responded positively indicating handing over of our national and suggested a place of release. They are likely to intimate date and time soon. Delay attributed to bad weather conditions on their side.”

 

 

He had tweeted a day earlier that Taron, “aged 19 years” from Jido Village in Upper Siang district, had gone missing on January 18, at Shiyung La in Bishing area. “Some people reported that Chinese PLA had taken him into their custody. Since the individual was missing from an area close to LAC (Line of Actual Control), Indian Army immediately approached Chinese side” on January 19, “asking for assistance in tracing and return of individual, in case he had strayed into the Chinese territory or PLA has taken him in their custody.”

 

Rijiju mentioned that “Chinese side had assured that they would search for the individual and return him as per established protocol”.

 

On January 20, he said, China intimated “that they had found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish the identity. To assist the Chinese side in further corroborating the identity, personal details and photo of the individual has been shared with the Chinese side by the Indian Army. Response from Chinese side is awaited. We are constantly following the case from day one. I appeal everyone to be cautious in making statements which are not based on facts because the safety and safe return of our Young Arunachal Pradesh youth is te priority.”

 

 

Last week, the Army had also said that the PLA had confirmed they had found a youth on their side, but were verifying his identity before retuning him as per protocol. The Army said that entire process could take up to a week.

 

Tapir Gao, MP from Arunachal East had said that the boy had been abducted by the PLA. A friend of Taron, who had accompanied him, said Chinese troops surprised them, while he managed to escape. Taron’s family later filed an FIR at the local police station.

 

 

The incident comes at a time when the relationship between India and China is at one of the lowest points in history. The two nations are yet to resolve the over 21-month long standoff in eastern Ladakh even after 14 rounds of meetings at the Corps Commander level.