New Delhi, August 1
Just a week after the new government took over on May 26, China violated the border pact it had signed with India. The violation of the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) took place on June 2 in southeastern Ladakh.

A protest was lodged by India at a flag meeting on July 15, the government told the Lok Sabha today.

Article VI of the BDCA signed in October last year states "the two sides agree that they shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common understanding of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas."

In reply to a written query, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Since signing of the BDCA, Chinese troops violated the provision by tailing our patrol in eastern Ladakh on June 2".

India and China signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in October last year. After signing the BDCA, the UPA government had warned that the pact was not a guarantee that incursions or transgressions would stop, but would help in addressing issues along the border.

India and China have 3,448-km-long border which is not demarcated on the ground and roughly runs along the ridgeline in the icy heights of the Himalayas.