The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is setting up over 50 new border posts along the China frontier from Karakoram pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh, sources in the border guarding force said on Wednesday.

“The ITBP is in the process of setting up over 50 new border outposts along the Line of Actual Control. The decision has been taken to bolster our strength along the China border,” said an ITBP official.

Earlier this year, the Centre had approved raising seven new ITBP battalions comprising 9,400 personnel, for deployment.

“Four battalions out of the seven are almost ready for deployment and they will be stationed at the new border outposts,” the official said.

ITBP guards the 3,488km long China frontier, which runs along Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

The decision to set up new outposts, sources said, has been taken considering the ground situation along the LAC where Chinese troops are said to have made frontline formations in several sensitive zones and are also ramping up infrastructure.

Sources said the Chinese troops continue to increase their troop presence along the LAC in the Arunachal Pradesh-Sikkim sector and show brazen aggression. In December, more than 500 PLA (People’s Liberation Army) soldiers were said to have crossed the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh and vandalised Indian military posts, leading to a clash between the two troops at 17,000 feet in Tawang’s Yangtze.

Sources in the security establishment have expressed concerns over the large-scale build-up along the LAC in eastern Ladakh by the PLA and an equal amount of infrastructure development by them as the border stand-off between India and China enters the fourth consecutive winter.

Recently, the 20th round of military talks between the two countries had failed to achieve any breakthrough.