Border talks: India flags China’s infra push in Karakoram

India and China held border talks on Wednesday amidst reports of a heavy road and infrastructure development push by Beijing in the Karakoram region.

The talks were held at the Major General level, a step lower than the Corps Commander-level discussions that have taken place at regular intervals since border tensions peaked following the bloody clash at Galwan in June 2020.

Sources said that India raised matters related to infrastructure development by the Chinese side near the border areas that are in violation of pacts and undertakings to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control. China has been making a strong infrastructure push in and around areas of dispute in the Ladakh region.


Sources said that such projects are being closely monitored, specially road construction activities in the Karakoram region that lies near a crucial trijunction of India, China and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). China has also been undertaking infrastructure development activities in the Shaksgam valley, a part of Jammu and Kashmir that was ceded by Pakistan in 1963.

While no major incidence of violence has taken place on the LAC since 2020, China has kept the border crisis active with continued deployment of troops along disputed regions. In the last round of talks in early August, India had cautioned China against air space violations and breach of confidence building measures in Eastern Ladakh, after a series of provocative actions that included sorties by fighter jets close to contested areas.

This was during a special round of talks between representatives of the Indian Air Force and the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh.