ITBP chief says Indian and Chinese troops have faced off several times on Arunachal border

Tension has surfaced once again on the India-China border. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapoor has said Indian and Chinese soldiers have come face to face several times on the Arunachal Pradesh border, and that this continues. The Congress has targeted the Union government over the issue. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a post on it.

Kapoor was speaking on Thursday at the Himveer felicitation ceremony at the Central Training College in Alwar, Rajasthan. He said that in the past few months Chinese and Indian soldiers have faced off at several places in Arunachal Pradesh, and that clashes have also taken place. According to him, the situation remains the same.

Kapoor said tension has persisted since the end of July in the Asaphila and Maja areas of Upper Subansiri district. India has also increased its deployment on the border. He said the tension has not ended even after three meetings. Since July, three high-level meetings have been held between the two countries: the WMCC, talks between the Special Representatives, and a Corps Commander-level meeting. Xi Jinping attended the 18th BRICS summit held in India, yet the tension continues.

Kapoor said, "Our Shaurya commando team is deployed there and has done very well. This was a new initiative. We know that the ITBP began as a mountain guerrilla force. After that, we took charge of the China border as a conventional force." He also said guerrilla warfare is no longer needed and that the force must instead establish itself as a high-altitude force.

Kapoor also said the arrival of drones has changed conventional warfare considerably. The ITBP is working on building drones and strengthening its anti-drone capability. The ITBP is also building underground facilities near the LAC to protect its resources.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government is silent on these clashes. He wrote on X that India is paying the price for the "infamous clean chit" the Prime Minister gave China on June 19, 2020. According to Ramesh, on one side the man who calls himself Vishwaguru is deliberately making concessions to China, while on the other the ITBP DG has praised the force's work in the recent clashes with the PLA in Arunachal Pradesh. Ramesh said the Prime Minister has maintained silence on the entire matter, and that this is surprising.

Earlier, in 2017, the armies of the two countries clashed at Doklam and tension continued for a long time. There was a period of calm afterwards, but the tension has now risen again. At that time too, the Doklam issue was raised vigorously in Parliament and opposition parties had targeted the Union government.