China won’t budge from Indian territory; starts supply convoys

China has reinforced its position in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector, 19 km inside Indian territory in the mountains around Ladakh; and the People's Liberation Army troops are getting regular supplies through trucks, the government has been told today.

According to reports sent to the Union home ministry, the Chinese side had taken an aggressive posture during patrolling in the DBO sector, where they have pitched five tents, and were refusing to end the face-off, which has entered the third week.

This makes Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid's earlier statement that the Chinese incursion was ''no more than an attack of acne'' look increasingly ludicrous, and shows how ill-informed he is.

''Despite its stunning economic progress, China has never lost sight of its territorial ambitions – it feels it has a birth-right over most of Asia. The foreign minister should be sufficiently well-read to know this, but he obviously isn't,'' said a social historian.

After a failed Brigadier-level flag meeting at Chashul on Tuesday, India stepped up vigil in the area through unmanned aerial vehicles, while its troops reported that supplies to the Chinese forces were being replenished through a convoy of trucks.

Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Bikram Singh on Wednesday met the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers and apprised them of the current situation in eastern Ladakh.

It was for the first time after the Chinese incursion that the Army chief made a detailed presentation before the cabinet committee on security at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence.

According to a report, the Army chief suggested the alternatives of direct military force or choking supply lines to the present Chinese-occupied positions. The Chinese troops are getting supplies from a place called Chip Chap, 25 km from the face-off site.

The Army has also suggested as an option the capture of Chinese posts in the other sectors on the Line of Actual Control to mount pressure.