No slow encroachment in Arunachal Pradesh by China, Army and ITBP geared up to dominate the border: Sources

New Delhi: There is no slow encroachment in Arunachal Pradesh by China as alleged in some social media posts, sources said on Tuesday, noting that the Army and ITBP are geared up to dominate the border, monitor and check Chinese activities.

Sources said China has made claims on Arunachal as South Tibet, articulated in 1960 border talks wherein they claimed about 69,000 sq km of the state territory.

Also read: India updates Arunachal Pradesh map, marks out China war flashpoints


India has firmly rejected China's claims on Arunachal Pradesh and conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions that the state is an integral and inalienable part of India.

The sources said that in 1959, China attacked the Assam Rifles outpost at Longju and captured it. The area has since been in adverse possession and is frequently in the news due to infra development done in this area by China, they said.

The sources said that during the 1962 India-China war, major Chinese operations were launched in Kameng, Subansiri, Siyom, Siang and Lohit valleys. However, after ceasefire, the PLA went back North of the LAC, the sources said, adding that Arunachal Pradesh shares a large border with Tibet along the Great Himalayan range.

Concerted infra push in recent years has enabled enhanced patrolling and surveillance of the area, sources said. They said that due to an undemarcated border, at times, the patrols face off each other and this is resolved through existing mechanisms and protocols in vogue.

"The Army and ITBP are geared up to dominate the border, monitor and check Chinese activities. Sensational claims like this without going into specifics are attention-seeking ploys," a source said.

Also read: China says India's move to identify 27 places in Arunachal with standard names is 'illegal, null and void'



The response came in the wake of some social media posts.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an "inalienable and integral part of India", referring to China's remarks after India formally identified 27 locations in the state by their standard names on the official Survey of India map, amid Beijing's repeated attempts to assign Chinese names to places in the state

"Let me reiterate this once again that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact that is self-evident. At the same time, let me also underline that nothing can change this indisputable reality," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated during a media briefing.

India has also made it clear that tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of "utmost importance".

Jaiswal referred to the meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC) held last week.

"Matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as more serious and that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in these areas is of the utmost importance. This was also reiterated at the recently held 36th WMCC meeting on India-China border affairs. The Indian side again underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations," he said.

The 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on August 6 in New Delhi.

The two sides engaged in frank discussions and reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"It was underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations," a MEA release said.

Both sides agreed to continue to use existing diplomatic and military channels, including the WMCC, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC.

"As a follow up to the outcomes of 24th SR Talks, two sides held detailed exchanges on issues related to boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation. The Indian side reiterated the need for early convening of the next meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism on trans-border rivers and emphasized the importance of sharing technical details on upstream projects," the release said.