In the month of September, 2009, India had accused Chinese troops of entering into its territory of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
Soon, Indian security forces were put on high alert on the vast India-China border in Uttarakhand amid reports of fresh Chinese incursions into the hill state. The reports of incursions had come from border areas of Rimkhim and Barahoti in Chamoli district with a worried Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (the then chief minister) asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deploy more troops along the long but porous borders with Tibet.
On Monday, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna again raised the bogey of Chinese incursions with the Centre, stating that 37 incursions had been reported since the past five years along the Uttarakhand-Tibet border. Speaking on the chief ministers’ conference on internal security in New Delhi, Bahuguna also said China is even considering Barahoti area in Chamoli district as disputed.
“Though the state intelligence and security agencies have also been vigilant, the porous international border continues to pose a security threat to the state. The central government should focus on upgrading the intelligence network along the international border. Surveillance and reconnaissance in border areas by the central forces also need to be stepped up,” Bahuguna said.
While Bahuguna did not demand any specialised force, Nishank at that time, had urged the Centre to set up a specialised mountain force in Uttarakhand, keeping in view its 370-km-long border with China.
ITBP officials here, however, said some civilians, mostly shepherds from China, regularly come into the Indian side during the monsoon season, which is not an “unusual” thing in the Uttarakhand-Tibet border, particularly in the Barahoti area.