India accuses China of 'kidnapping' its citizens at border

The Indian Army says it has asked its Chinese counterpart if five Indian civilians who went missing from an eastern border state days ago were in their custody, as tension simmered on the western frontier between the rivals.
Relations between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have hit a multi-decade low since clashes at their western Himalayan border in June that killed 20 Indian soldiers. Both sides have since stepped up monitoring their largely unsettled 3,488km (2,167-mile) border.
The five missing men are from the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, a strategically important area also claimed by China, which calls it South Tibet, and the Indian Army said it told China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) about them on Saturday.
“We spoke with them on the hotline and told them that it’s suspected that some people have crossed across to your side and we will be grateful if you could hand them over back, as per what we do normally,” Lieutenant Colonel Harsh Wardhan Pande, Indian defence ministry spokesman, told Reuters news agency.