Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur has confirmed that confrontations with Chinese troops are continuing at several locations along the Arunachal Pradesh border. This is the first official confirmation of ongoing face-offs in the northeastern state, where tensions have escalated in recent months.
Kapur said the confrontations had been taking place since July, when reports emerged that Chinese troops were preventing Indian forces from accessing important patrolling points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Taksing area.
“In the past few days, a situation arose where a face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal, and it continues,” Kapur said at an annual felicitation ceremony for ITBP personnel.
His remarks indicate that military tensions continued even during the BRICS Summit held in New Delhi in September, which was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
WHAT DID THE ITBP DG SAY ABOUT THE ARUNACHAL BORDER FACE-OFFS?
The ITBP chief praised the force’s Shaurya commandos for their performance during the confrontations, describing their contribution as exceptional.
“Our newly raised Shaurya commandos played an exemplary role in this,” Kapur said. The commandos specialise in high-altitude warfare.
Established in 1962, the ITBP is responsible for guarding the 3,488-km-long LAC with China.
Kapur recalled that the force was initially established as a mountain guerrilla unit before being assigned border-guarding responsibilities along the Chinese frontier in 2004. He stressed that the ITBP should continue to retain its original role.
Acknowledging that China represents the force’s most challenging border, Kapur said the ITBP had established drone platoons across all its border units. The force has also developed a specialised combat training programme to prepare personnel for situations similar to the Galwan Valley clashes and is working on underground infrastructure.
Tensions along the Arunachal Pradesh border have increased over the past few months.
In July, a fact-finding team from the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) alleged that People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops were effectively preventing Indian forces from reaching designated patrolling points in Taksing. The team also raised concerns about growing Chinese activity in Upper Subansiri district.
The PPA, a regional political party with two MLAs in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, raised these concerns following reports of restricted access to border areas. However, the government rejected the allegations and reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an “inalienable” and “integral part of India”.
CONGRESS QUESTIONS PM MODI'S SILENCE
The Congress has repeatedly raised the border issue, demanding explanations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had earlier told India Today that there had been no fresh Chinese occupation of territory in Arunachal Pradesh. However, he acknowledged concerns expressed by local residents about access to certain grazing areas near the border.
The ITBP DG’s latest remarks have given the Congress further grounds to criticise the BJP-led government. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh questioned what he described as the Prime Minister’s “deafening silence” over the situation in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a strongly worded post on X, Ramesh praised the ITBP’s performance during recent confrontations with the PLA but criticised the government for remaining silent on the developments.
He also questioned the effectiveness of Corps commander-level talks held in September to maintain peace along the LAC. The meeting was the first flag meeting between the highest-level military commanders in the Arunachal Pradesh sector.
Ramesh claimed that local residents had reported losing access to patrolling points, drawing a comparison with the situation in Ladakh. He also pointed to China’s continued renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh and its construction of a 60,000-MW dam, which he said posed risks to India’s ecological and water security.
The latest developments indicate that India and China are facing renewed border tensions following earlier confrontations in Doklam and eastern Ladakh. How the two countries address the situation remains to be seen, particularly as bilateral relations have shown signs of improvement.
