Over 15 ITBP posts to
come up along LAC in Ladakh
August 31
To effectively guard
the Sino-Indian border, the Ladakh region would get over 15 of the 35 border
outposts being mulled by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) along the Line
of Actual Control (LAC). “We are likely
to get 15 to 16 new border outposts and more personnel to strengthen border
security along the LAC in the Ladakh region. Similarly, Arunachal Pradesh would
be another area where there would be an increase in our posts and men,” a
senior ITBP source told The Tribune.
The 4,057-km-long LAC
between India and China, also known as the MacCartney-MacDonald
Line, runs through J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim
and Arunachal Pradesh. The Ladakh region has about 955 km border with China,
out of which the LAC forms 700 km and rest is the undisputed international
border.
The officer said areas
such as Chumar, Daulat Beg Oldie and Demchok, where Chinese incursions had
increased in recent times would get ‘focused’ attention with the setting up of
the new posts over the next few years.
Chumar, located 300 km
from Leh, is an area where both countries have major perception differences on
the LAC. “At a time when China
has been ramping up its infrastructure on the other side of the LAC, at least
10 of our strategically located posts with 1,500 personnel in the Ladakh region
get cut off every winter for over six months. And, there is a spurt in the
Chinese incursions as well. So, the Home Ministry has decided to focus more on
Ladakh,” he said.
He admitted that the
spurt in the Chinese incursions had made the Indian Army readjust its troops
this year after the April stand-off between the two countries in Daulat Beg
Oldie. On April 15 and 16 this year, 50 troops of the People’s Liberation Army
of China along with Molosser dogs had intruded 19-km inside the Indian territory in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector in Ladakh
and pitched up tents. The Ministry of Home Affairs has also been thinking over
a proposal to give us Mi-17 copter in Ladakh, said the source.
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