Photo for representational purpose only. iStock

New Delhi/Dehradun, June 4

Two Chinese helicopters were today seen hovering over the Indian airspace in Barahoti area of Chamoli in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, triggering concern in India’s security establishment. There have been three such incursions into the Indian airspace since March this year. Uttarakhand, during an internal security meeting in Delhi, had reported more than 30 incursions in the area between 2007-2012.Shepherds claimed to have spotted the helicopters at 9 am. The matter was brought to the notice of the revenue police, which hastened to inform ITBP officials. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Official sources said the choppers, which returned to the Chinese side after about five minutes, could have carried out aerial photography of  ground troops during what was possibly a reconnaissance mission. The Indian Air Force is probing the incident.The choppers were identified as the Zhiba series of attack helicopters. On previous occasions, Chinese helicopters have entered 4.5 km into the Indian territory, an area China claims is its own and recognises as Wu-Je. Uttarakhand and Army officials have been reviewing security along the 350-km border with Tibet after China’s incursions into these areas, referred to as the middle sector.Barahoti is one of three border posts in this sector, comprising UP and HP besides Uttarakhand. Here, ITBP jawans are not allowed to carry weapons and are in civilian clothes.In 1958, India and China listed Barahoti, an 80-sq-km sloping pasture, as a disputed area where neither side would send troops. In the 1962 India-China war, the PLA did not enter the 545-km middle sector, focusing on the western (Ladakh) and eastern (Arunachal Pradesh) sectors.However, after the 1962 war, ITBP jawans began patrolling the area with weapons in a non-combative manner — barrel of the gun faced downward. In 2000, it was decided that ITBP troops would not carry arms to the three posts. — TNS & PT