'Positive Response' From Chinese PLA Over Missing Arunachal Teen, Says Rijiju

Miram Tarong, 17, was found by the Chinese army after he was initially reported to be 'abducted'.

Missing Arunachal teen Miram Tarong.

(Photo: Twitter)

Days after a 17-year-old boy from Arunachal Pradesh was found by the Chinese army after he was initially reported to be 'abducted', Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that India had a "positive" conversation with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) about handing over the boy to the Indian authorities.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, 26 January, Rijiju said: "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 [sic]."

Rijiju's statement comes three days after Lt Col Harshvardhan Pandey, PRO Defence Tezpur, said that the Chinese PLA had found the missing boy, identified as Miram Tarong, and that due procedure was being followed.

Tapir Gao, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian, had earlier claimed that the PLA had 'abducted' Tarong from the Upper Siang district.

China's Foreign Ministry had on Thursday said that it was not aware of the reported abduction and that the PLA "controls borders in accordance with the law and cracks down on illegal entry and exit activities."