Chinese troops tried to transgress across the Line of Actual Control at Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 in a bid to “unilaterally change the status quo” there but were beaten back by Indian soldiers, defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament.
Sources said the 300 troops from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who intruded across the LAC armed with wooden clubs and sticks, apparently wanted to gain access to a peak that provides a commanding view in the high-altitude region at around 17,000 feet.
But the Indian soldiers deployed there, who also called in for reinforcements, forced the PLA troops to retreat in the ensuing protracted hand-to-hand combat that left several wounded on either side with broken bones, bruises and other injuries. China, in turn alleged Indian troops had “illegally crossed” the disputed border to block a routine PLA patrol during the incident.
Rajnath, however, made it clear that the PLA troops had provoked the face-off, and that India has asked China to “refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border” through both military and diplomatic channels.
The minister said the PLA soldiers went back to their locations due to the timely intervention by Indian military commanders. The Indian brigade commander in the area subsequently held a flag meeting with his PLA counterpart on December 11 to stress that China should desist from such actions. This is not the first time that the PLA has tried to gain access to the 17,000-feet peak in the forbidding terrain at Yangtse, or the ‘MagoChuna’ area as it is militarily called. A similar PLA bid was thwarted by Indian soldiers in October last year. Tawang is one of the most heavily defended regions by India along the 3,488-km LAC with China, which claims it as part of ‘South Tibet’ and had captured it in the initial days of the 1962 war.
Won’t cede an inch to Beijing, vows Shah
Declaring that the Narendra Modi government would not allow “a single inch of its land” to be encroached upon, home minister Amit Shah praised Indian soldiers for “protecting the motherland” by driving away Chinese infiltrators from Tawang “within hours” on December 8-9.
At the same time, he cornered Congress for disrupting question hour in Lok Sabha even though a statement by the defence minister on the events in Tawang had been slotted. Shah alleged that Congress may have done so to avoid any disclosures during his reply to a starred question pertaining to the Chinese funding extended to the Sonia Gandhi-led Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) between 2005 and 2007.
India plans a 1,700-km ‘frontier highway’
The government will construct a new highway in Arunachal Pradesh within the next five years that will be near to the borders with Tibet, China, Myanmar, and India. The "frontier highway" will occasionally pass within 20 km of an international boundary.
The 1,748-km long two lane road, which has huge strategic significance and aims to stop migration of people from border areas, will be built by the road transport ministry. This is the longest NH that the Centre has notified in one go in recent times.
The NH-913 road will be a huge help for the smooth transit of defence soldiers and equipment to the border, where China has been making repeated incursion attempts. On its side of the LAC, China is allegedly building infrastructure. The highway will start from Bomdila and pass through Nafra, Huri and Monigong, which is the closest point on the India-Tibet border. The road will also pass through Jido and Chenquenty, which are closest to the China border, and will terminate at Vijaynagar, near India-Myanmar border.