Social Media Users Revive 2013 Article on China’s Incursion at LAC

The Times of India article was recently shared by Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy without any context.

A Times of India article titled ‘Chinese troops 19km inside Indian territory, govt admits’ dated 27 April 2013, was recently shared by Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy without any context.

Several social media users shared the article as a recent one, claiming that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government ‘lied’ about not conceding land during the disengagement process with China in the Pangong Tso lake area in eastern Ladakh in February.

CLAIM

Several users shared the article with the claim that PM Modi was “wrong” and that the government had “finally admitted” that China had transgressed into Indian territory.

Another user shared the tweet with the caption, “Chinese army enters 19km inside India, ‘Nandu’ is busy in elections,” in Hindi.

Users also shared a screenshot of Swamy’s tweet on Facebook as well, without any context.

You can view an archived version of a similar post here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

The TOI article is dated 27 April 2013, which is also flagged as a warning at the top of the page.

The article from 16 April 2013 reads, “The Indian Army patrols reported the presence of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) troops in Depsang 19 km west of the Line of Actual Control and beyond our understanding of the Chinese perception of LAC.”

A report by Telegraph India, dated 26 April 2013, explains that the Chinese army had set up four tents “between the Lines of Perception on a dry bed of a rivulet called Raki Nala”.

In a report by news agency Reuters, dated 6 May 2013, India’s foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin had stated, “The governments of India and China have agreed to restore status quo ante along the LAC in the western sector of the India-China boundary as it existed before 15 April 2013.”

However, the exact details of the deal and how far the Chinese soldiers had retreated were not made public.

Regarding the recent stand-off between India and China along the LAC, which began in May last year, Army chief General MM Naravane stated on 30 March that “not an inch of land has been lost”.

Swamy, too, admitted in a reply to a user that the incident is of 2013, stating that PM Modi had not taken “any step to evict the Chinese PLA” from 2014 to 2019. However, several users falsely shared the article as a recent incident.

(With inputs from SM Hoax Slayer)

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