The Chinese army is making “aggressive” moves along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, an assessment by security agencies suggests.
Multiple sources in the security establishment told The Telegraph that the Chinese, besides trying to alter the status quo in Ladakh, had intensified patrolling along the undemarcated eastern frontier and begun reinforcing military posts and infrastructure.
“Intelligence reports and a ground assessment indicate aggressive patrolling by the Chinese, especially in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh,” a security official attached to the Union home ministry said.
“They have been reinforcing their military posts closer to the frontier and have intensified infrastructure building.”
A defence ministry official said: “The increasing deployment of Chinese troops closer to the border in the eastern sector is alarming. They have also been deploying additional military assets, besides showing aggressive intent and increasing patrolling.”
India too is building infrastructure along the border, and has brought additional troops to the eastern sector to dissuade the Chinese from coming closer, the official said.
Some 1,346km of the 3,488km LAC falls in the eastern sector. The Tawang sector alone has a 270km border with China. Beijing claims 90,000sqkm of territory in the eastern sector, practically the whole of Arunachal, as its own.
The two armies had been locked in a “face-off” for a few hours in the Tawang sector last October following a crossover by nearly 200 Chinese soldiers. The Chinese later returned to their side.
“To guard against further Chinese transgressions, the Indian Army too has reinforced its posts,” another defence ministry official said.
He said the army had deployed additional cameras and was using satellite imagery to keep an eye on the Chinese troops along the LAC in the eastern sector.
The two armies have been locked in a border standoff in Ladakh since May 2020, with the Chinese estimated to have taken over nearly 1,000sqkm of India-claimed territory.
