Sino-India Border

The Chinese military on Thursday said that "great progress" has been made in implementing the border agreement with India to end the over four-year standoff at eastern Ladakh and termed the recent meeting between the defence ministers of the two sides as positive and constructive. "We also look forward to harmonious dance between the Chinese dragon and Indian Elephant with concerted steps," Defence Ministry spokesman Sr Col Wu Qian said while addressing the monthly media briefing here. He said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun had a positive and constructive meeting last week in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, on the sidelines of a regional security conclave. The two sides are implementing the settlement reached between the two counties, he said, answering a question on the progress of the execution of the agreement reached between the two countries last month to end the standoff in eastern Ladakh. "Now, we are making great progress,"

"Our operational preparedness in these areas continues to be of a very high level. The deployment is both robust and balanced," he said

With Beijing remaining intransigent on the withdrawal of additional troops deployed by the PLA since the deadly border clash in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, India's bilateral ties with China remained frozen in 2023 with no forward movement on the horizon despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks. The relationship has remained frozen since May 2020 when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) amassed troops in eastern Ladakh that led to a deadly clash between the two militaries at the Galwan Valley in June 2020, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese military personnel. In the words of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chinese literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation at the border in Ladakh in violation of all bilateral agreements. The ties between the two countries after the two high-profile informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping remain frozen and India

Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande on Saturday said that India's legacy challenges of unsettled borders will continue to engage the nation and stressed that the ability to correctly assess future threats remains pivotal to the country's strategic planning and preparedness. The top general was delivering a keynote address at the Indian Institute of Management Nagpur, said a release shared by the defence PRO. Increasing weaponisation of space poses significant challenges to the security of space assets, he said. Highlighting the challenges arising out of the cyber domain, he cited the CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) annual report of 2022 and said that there were nearly 14 lakh cases of website intrusion, malware propagation, malicious code, phishing, distributed denial of service attacks, ransomware attacks and data breach attempts in one year. Technological advances in the electromagnetic spectrum could impact military operations, intelligence gathering and civili

Border posts of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) along the India-China frontier from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh will have an additional team of intelligence officers for surveillance and information gathering. A highly placed source said the central government has approved a proposal for establishing the set-up that will be known as the Border Intelligence Post (BIP). The move bears significance in view of the increased Chinese activities along the border and transgressions by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA). A stand-off between the Indian Army and the PLA in Ladakh has been going on since June 2020. Each of the BIPs will be manned by four-five officials of the Intelligence Bureau and protected by ITBP personnel, the source in the know of the development said on the condition of anonymity. Those personnel who would be deployed at the BIPs will keep an eye on activities across the border and share updates with the higher authorities and the government. The source, how

India has been carrying out a lot of construction activities at the China border in the last three years, BRO Director General Lt General Rajeev Chaudhry said on Sunday. The DG was here to inspect the ongoing construction work of an air dispatch unit of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), touted to be the world's largest 3D concrete printed campus. Chaudhry said the government of India is fully supporting the BRO for carrying out infrastructure development projects by way of increasing the budget and new technology. The government of India has "increased our budget by 100 per cent in the last two years", he added. When asked if China is carrying out big infrastructure development near the border areas of India, the DG said that a lot of construction activities have been being carried out by the BRO and other agencies at the China border in the last three years. The DG said that around 300 BRO projects worth Rs 8,000 crore were completed during the last few years. In the last thr

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday termed as "very serious" the issue of China releasing a "standard map" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, saying the neighbouring country had already taken India's land in Ladakh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak on the issue. On Monday, Beijing released the 2023 edition of the so-called "standard map of China" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as regions within its borders. Asked about the map issue as he was leaving for Karnataka, Gandhi told reporters, "I have just returned from Ladakh and I have been saying for years that what the PM has said, that not one inch of land has been lost in Ladakh, is an absolute lie. The whole of Ladakh knows that China has usurped our land." "This map issue is very serious but they have already taken away our land and the PM should say something about that too," the former Congress president said. The Congress on Tuesday took strong objection to the ...

China on Monday officially released the 2023 edition of its standard map incorporating the disputed areas including its claims over Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea. India has repeatedly said that the state of Arunachal Pradesh has "always been" and will "always be" an integral part of the country. The 2023 edition of China's standard map was officially released on Monday and launched on the website of the standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, state-run Global Times said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. This map is compiled based on the drawing method of the national boundaries of China and various countries in the world, the post said. The map also displayed by the Global Times showed Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet, and Aksai Chin occupied by it in the 1962 war. India has repeatedly told China that "Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of ..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping India's concerns on the "unresolved" issues along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh during a conversation on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday. The prime minister underlined that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for normalisation of India-China relations, he said at a media briefing. In this regard, the two leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and deescalation, the foreign secretary added. Kwatra said Modi had conversations with BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the summit of the grouping in Johannesburg. The ties between India and China came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May, 2020. The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in the standoff in certain friction points in ..

Cong condemned PM Modi for giving a clean chit to China on the Galwan valley clash in June 2020, adding that his silence thereafter has contributed to weakening of India's negotiating position

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prioritised development of roads in the international border areas of the country, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, to instil confidence among people living there. In contrary to earlier policies, now the "last border village has been considered as the first Indian village" for development in the international boundary areas, Rijiju, the minister for earth sciences, said. Arunachal Pradesh shares international boundaries with Myanmar, China and Bhutan. He also alleged that it was "the policy of the Congress to not develop border areas on the pretext that if the infrastructure is created there, China could come and transgress into India's territory". "After the Modi government came to power in 2014, the policy has changed and the last border village has been considered as the first Indian village for development in border areas," the minister said. He participated in a mega rally here on the completio

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday strongly objected to the use of the term "pitai" (beating) by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi while referring to the India-China clash in Tawang, and asserted that our soldiers have stood their ground in Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh and should be "appreciated and honoured". There is no problem with political criticism of the government's actions, Jaishankar said, but objected to "direct or indirect" criticism of the soldiers guarding the country's frontiers. His remarks during the debate on the Anti Maritime Piracy Bill in the Lok Sabha were in response to Gandhi's allegations in Jaipur last week that China had taken away 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killed 20 Indian soldiers, and was "beating our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh". "The word 'pitai' (beating) should not be used for our jawans. Our jawans are standing their ground. They should be respected, they should be honoured, and they should be appreciated. This is

Upping the ante on the government over the Sino-India border issue, the Congress on Friday cited the "ballooning" trade deficit and said while trade is "normal" with that country, the border is "abnormal". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "exonerating" the Chinese with his 2020 statement on the border standoff and asked whether what had happened back then was an "incursion" or an "excursion" by the Chinese. Hitting out at the prime minister over his "silence" on the issue, Ramesh also alleged that the prime minister "forced" Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to read a "most wishy-washy" statement in Parliament earlier this week following the recent face-off between Indian and Chinese forces in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted that it was the Opposition parties' democratic right to seek a debate on the important issue. "The prime minister has met the president of China 18 times. (Former External ...

Chinese troops tried to "unilaterally" change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector last week but the Indian Army compelled them to retreat by its "firm and resolute" response, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament on Tuesday. In similar statements in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Singh said there were "no fatalities" or serious injuries to the Indian soldiers and that the clash led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides. With the opposition questioning the government's handling of the border issue with China, Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters that no one can capture an inch of India's land till the Narendra Modi government is in power. In his statement, Singh said,"on December 9, PLA troops tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of Tawang Sector and unilaterally change the status quo. The Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner." "The ensuing ...

Days after Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, Adjutant General of the Army Lt Gen C B Ponnappa said on Tuesday that all is well and under control. The Indian Army said on Monday that the face-off on December 9 resulted in "minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides". Asked about the situation after the clash, Lt Gen Ponnappa told PTI on the sidelines of an event, "All is well and (under) control. We all are safe." He addressed the students of Salwan Public School here during its annual event 'Samman Diwas' to pay tributes to Indian Army personnel who died in the line of duty. "It's a privilege for me to join you all on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff. We shall continue to inspire the generations. Today it is an occasion to honour our soldiers who sacrificed their lives," he told the students. At the event, Salwan Education Trust chairman Major General (retired) Sanjeev Shukla said, "As you al

Matters will be taken up in keeping with House norms: Centre at all-party meet

India on Thursday said it carefully monitors developments along its border areas including the construction of infrastructure by the Chinese side in the eastern Ladakh sector.

China termed the critical remarks by a top US General on its infrastructure build-up at the Sino-India border as a "despicable act" and criticised the attempts of Americans to "add fuel to fire"

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said disengagement of troops is a complex process which would require mutually agreed "reciprocal actions".

India has existed as a cultural entity from pre-historic times, but most people are not conversant with how and when the nation-state took shape, writes T N Ninan