Sushil Kumar Shinde says "no" to Army's plan to control ITBP

NEW DELHI: The plans of the Army for controlling Indo Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP), which guards the frontier with China, was rejected by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde who said today there will be no change in the command.

"ITBP home department ke paas hee rahegi" (ITBP will stay with the Home Ministry only)," was the reply of the Home Minister during a press conference.

He was replying to various questions including one on proposed handing over the operational command of ITBP to the Army's Leh-based 14 Corps which oversees the country's frontier with China and Pakistan in Ladkah division of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the wake of recent incursion along the Sino-Indian border in this division, the Army had pushed for taking over control of ITBP for "cohesion, coordination and synergy" to counter the Chinese Army's "offensives" acts.

Reasoning out for having an operational command, the Army was of the view that by doing so, ITBP could be made more productive operationally along the 826 Line of Actual Control ( LAC).

The Home Ministry had, during a recent discussion at the highest level in the government, given a blow-by-blow account about the 19km incursion by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Daulat Beg Oldi sector of Depsang buldge.