The external affairs ministry on Thursday said the construction of a village along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Arunachal Pradesh — mentioned in a recent Pentagon report — was one of several structures that China has built in the area over the past several years.

The attempt seemed to be to blunt the criticism that is coming the Narendra Modi government’s way with regard to Chinese infringement in disputed territory.

In its annual report to the US Congress on the military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China, the department of defence had said: “Sometime in 2020, the PRC built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the PRC’s Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC.”

Responding to questions on this during the weekly media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the government had taken note of the Pentagon report that refers to “construction activities by the Chinese side along the India-China border areas, particularly in the eastern sector”.

“China has undertaken construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has illegally occupied over the decades. India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims. The government has always conveyed its strong protest to such activities through diplomatic means and will continue to do so in the future,” Bagchi said.

He detailed the measures being taken by the government to improve border infrastructure, including the construction of roads and bridges.