LAC situation gets disturbed when Chinese forces deviate from patrolling patterns, MEA says

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said the situation along the India-China border gets disturbed when Chinese forces deviate from established patrolling patterns, a day after Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Shatrujeet Kapur said face-offs with Chinese troops were continuing at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question about Kapur’s remarks at a media briefing, declined to discuss the specifics and referred the matter to the Ministry of Defence.

“As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,” Jaiswal was quoted as saying by NDTV.

He added that both countries continued to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The two sides had also agreed to discuss ways to improve their understanding of the LAC in certain areas to strengthen border management, he said.

Jaiswal reiterated India’s position that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border was essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.

On Thursday, Kapur told ITBP personnel at a force base in Rajasthan that face-offs with Chinese troops had taken place at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh in recent days and were continuing.

He said the ITBP’s newly raised Shaurya commando team had demonstrated its capabilities during the ongoing face-offs with personnel of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Kapur described the China front as the force’s most difficult border and stressed the need to strengthen drone and anti-drone capabilities, citing China’s military modernisation.