Bharatiya Janata Party National General Secretary Ram Madhav on Monday attended the funeral of Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan soldier of the covert paramilitary unit Special Frontier Force, NDTV reported. The BJP leader shared pictures from the funeral in a tweet, but deleted it later.

Tenzin was killed in a mine blast while patrolling the India-China border in Ladakh last week, according to Reuters. Another commando was critically wounded. The Special Frontier Force is a special unit raised in 1962 that primarily recruits from the Tibetan community in exile, who have made India their home since spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet in 1959. Some are Indian citizens.

Madhav laid a wreath for Tenzin during the cremation ceremony and met his family, according to News18. “Attended the funeral of SFF Coy Ldr Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan who laid down his life protecting our borders in Ladakh, and laid a wreath as a tribute,” Madhav had said in the now-deleted tweet. “Let the sacrifices of such valiant soldiers bring peace along the Indo-Tibetan border. That will be the real tribute to all martyrs.”

Madhav’s presence at Tenzin’s funeral was seen as an act of signalling to China, days after a border flare-up along the Line of Actual Control between the two countries.

Tension in the border between India and China was renewed on August 29, after the Indian Army said it had thwarted “provocative action” by Chinese soldiers to change the status quo at the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake. On September 1, India said that China had once again engaged in provocative military maneuvers in the region even as military level talks were going on to resolve tension over the previous attempted transgression.

Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane had said last week that the situation along the Line of Actual Control was “slightly tense” and precautionary measures were taken to increase security.

Also read:

  1. ‘Message sent to China,’ says minister on alleged abduction of five Arunachal villagers
  2. Beyond Modi-Xi summits: To avoid military escalation, what are India’s options?