SOURCE: ET
20 years after Nathu La and Cho La, China again raised the border bogey when India granted statehood to Arunachal Pradesh in 1986. This led to heated protests from the Chinese and the Sumdorong Chu standoff (1987) in Arunachal Pradesh is said to be one of those incidents when India and China were on the verge of war.
In 1986, the Chinese army reportedly crossed LAC and entered the Sumdorong Chu valley in Arunachal Pradesh and started building helipads and permanent structures. Later, the then Indian Army Chief Gen K Sundarji launched Operation Falcon.
With the help of Indian Air force (IAF) several battalions were airlifted and were dropped at the Sino-Indian border. The Indian army stood at the border eyeball-to-eyeball with Chinese troops until the PLA agreed to back off.
This happened after ND Tiwari, the then External Affairs minister, visited Beijing in May 1987. The move sent out a clear message that India had no intention of aggravating the situation at the border.
After this, the first formal meeting to discuss “the freezing of the situation” since 1962 was held. At the meeting, both sides agreed to discuss the matter on the table. It would eventually lead to the pact of 1993, where the two countries agreed to ensure peace along the LAC.
