NEW DELHI: Hours after withdrawing from the disputed Chumar region in Ladakh, Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers were on Friday reported to have crossed into Indian-controlled territory again and stationed on a hillock.

Press Trust of India quoted official sources as saying about 35 PLA men returned to Chumar in northeast Ladakh and perched on a hillock claiming the area to be part of China while another 300 soldiers were maintaining presence close to Line of Actual Control.

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The standoff in Demchok and Chumar had cast a shadow on Thursday’s summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, PTI said.

The Indian army, which had reportedly started scaling down operations from the area following the Chinese withdrawal on Friday night, put a halt and again started pitching their tents for a possible fresh standoff, the sources said.

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They said that nearly 300 Chinese soldiers were spotted across the LAC with many of them stationed in their vehicles while others on foot.

This, the sources said, was apparently done by Chinese PLA as the Indian army had not completely withdrawn from the region.

There had been suggestions in the local media that all had not gone well at the summit meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Modi. The Chinese are extremely sensitive about Tibetan protesters being allowed anywhere close to the visiting leaders in New Delhi. Local reports said Tibetan separatists came close to the venue where the Chinese president was staying, and staged protests during his stay.

Reports also quoted Indian President Pranab Mukherjee as deepening Indian interest, during a visit to Vietnam as Mr Xi headed for India, in oil exploration in the controversial waters of the South China Sea, contested by China and Vietnam.

It was not clear how serious the latest alleged incursions by the Chinese troops were. PTI claimed that Chinese troops, without any border meeting, had started withdrawing from the area at 9.45pm on Friday and the Indian army had also started reducing their presence in the area.

However, as a part of its drill, some army presence was maintained in the area to verify whether the Chinese had actually returned to their territory, which was possible only after daybreak.

In the morning, after Indian army spotted PLA presence close to the LAC, it was decided to stop reduction of troops till it was verified that the Chinese have gone back to their camps located 10km from the LAC, PTI said.

Chumar, the last village in Ladakh area bordering Himachal Pradesh, has been a bone of contention with China claiming it to be its own territory and has been frequenting the area with helicopter incursions almost every year.

Chumar had become a flashpoint during the fortnight long standoff last year in Daulat Beg Oldie as the Chinese side had objected to overhead bunkers erected by the Indian side.

As part of an agreement reached at the flag meeting to end the standoff from April-May 2013 at DBO, the Indian side had to dismantle some overhead bunkers in Chumar.

Published in Dawn, September 20th , 2014