China building towns along Arunachal border, show satellite images

Amid border incursions with the Chinese soldiers coming with barbed sticks near the LAC on December 9, satellite images show that China has built villages on their side. As per a bilateral pact, weapons are not to be borne by soldiers on the border.

Along the India-China border abutting Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, the PLA army has also constructed a road, Indian Army sources told media on Tuesday, a day after a clash between troops of both sides last week became public.

On the clash, sources said that as many as 300 Chinese troops had arrived near the LAC on December 9 to gain control over the peak of a 17,000-feet-high mountain but the Indian troops foiled their attempt, the source said.

Meanwhile, China’s first statement on the clash has come, with its Foreign Ministry said that the situation on its border with India is “stable”. Responding to reports of clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Tawang, China maintained that the situation on the border is stable.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: “As far as we understand, the situation on the China-India border is overall stable. Continuous talks are going on, on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels.”

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday told Parliament that Indian troops successfully thwarted an attempt by Chinese soldiers to transgress the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector.

In a statement which the Defence Minister read out in both Houses of Parliament, he said that Indian troops in a brave and resolute manner pushed back the Chinese troops back to their positions after a physical scuffle, in which minor injuries were suffered by both sides in Yangtse area of Tawang sector.

However no fatalities were reported on the Indian side during the incident, Rajnath Singh informed the House. He said that subsequently a flag meeting between Indian and Chinese commanders was held on December 11, where the Chinese side was told to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

The matter has also been taken up through diplomatic channels with China. Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the House stands united in supporting Indian soldiers in their efforts as the Lok Sabha witnessed a pandemonium when he read out the statement.

Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh had chaired a high-level emergency meeting with CDS Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, Army chief General Manoj Pande and NSA Ajit Doval.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “No doubt that China has its eyes on Tawang. We’ve to be very alert there. I think what our Army did yesterday had the support of entire country.”

The clash between Indian and Chinese troops on December 9 took place at the 17,000 feet at Yangtse, some 35 km north-east of Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.

A source informed that there have been injuries to both Indian and Chinese soldiers and six of the injured Indian soldiers had been admitted to the military hospital at Guwahati, but here is no reports of any serious injury or death.

China has been repeatedly trying to take control of the 17,000-feet-high peak but Indian Army sources said that India has a firm control of the peak, which provides a commanding view on both sides of the border. Currently, Indian Air Force aircraft are patrolling the skies of Arunachal.