India returned captured PLA Chinese soldier on Monday to China at 10 am today, at the Chushul - Moldo meeting point in Eastern Ladakh. The PLA soldier was captured on Friday morning. This is the second such incident of Chinese soldiers crossing over into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and comes amidst the many month-long India-China standoffs.
A statement released by the Indian Army on Saturday read, "the PLA soldier had transgressed across the LAC and was taken into custody by Indian troops deployed in this area."
"The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated," the release said.
The first incident happened in October, in the Demchok area of Eastern Ladakh while the recent incident took place in an area of Pangong Tso lake.
Pangong lake area has been one of the sites of the standoff between both forces. Indian forces are present in the south of the lake, while the government wants the Chinese forces on the north bank of the lake to clear the area.
Presently, China occupies an area from finger 4 to finger 8 of the lake.
The Indian army statement highlighted that the "Troops from either side are deployed along the LAC since friction erupted last year due to unprecedented mobilization and forward concentration by Chinese troops."
Also Read: Chinese PLA solider held for entering Indian territory
The current incident is not expected to have any impact on the ongoing situation at the LAC, including easing up the situation.
The important focus should be on the next round of military talks between the two side while in December diplomatic level talks had already taken place between the two sides.