China Built Village Inside Disputed Territory With India’s Arunachal, Taking Tactical Actions For Claims At LAC: US

The Defense Department also mentioned that Chinese officials have warned US officials to not interfere in their relationship with India.

Representative Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: The US Department of Defense in its annual report to Congress on military and security developments involving China stated that it has built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh.

“Sometime in 2020, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the PRC’s Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC,” the report titled ‘Military And Security Developments Involving The People’s Republic of China 2021’ stated.

“These and other infrastructure development efforts along the India-China have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media,” it adds.

The report by the US Department of Defense has been shared on the government’s official website. It specifically points out that China attempted to blame India for provoking the standoff alleging “increased infrastructure development” near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Asserting that its deployments to the LAC were in response to Indian provocation, Beijing has refused to withdraw any forces until India’s forces have withdrawn behind its version of the LAC and ceased infrastructure improvements in the area, it stated.

The US Department of Defense noted that Chinese state-controlled media has also asserted China’s intent to refuse any territorial concessions demanded by India.

“PRC officials, through official statements and state media, had also sought unsuccessfully to prevent India from deepening its relationship with the United States during and subsequent to the standoff, while accusing India of being a mere ‘instrument’ of US policy in the region,” the report stated.

The department also mentioned that Chinese officials have warned US officials to not interfere in their relationship with India.

About the India and China border issue, it stated that the PRC has continued taking “incremental and tactical actions to press its claims at the LAC” despite the ongoing diplomatic and military dialogues to reduce tensions.

The report recalled that the tensions along LAC sparked the ongoing standoff between Chinese and Indian troops in mid-May 2020, which lasted through the winter.

The standoff escalated on June 15, 2020 after a skirmish ensued in the Galway Valley in Ladakh between the Indian Army and PLA troops which resulted in casualties on both sides, including the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers.

In February 2021, the Central Military Commission (CMC) announced posthumous awards for four PLA soldiers, “though the total number of PRC casualties remains unknown,” it notes.

Even with agreements to disengage in the spring of 2021, both sides maintain troops along the LAC as Corps Commander-level negotiations progress slowly.

The report noted that the current standoff between the two nations resulted in the first such deaths in the last 45 years: “This incident was the deadliest clash between the two nations in the past 45 years”. 

The US Department of Defense mentioned that differing views on border demarcations along the LAC along with recent infrastructure construction led to multiple unarmed clashes, an ongoing standoff, and military buildups on both sides of the border.

It also noted that PRC officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis throughout the standoff. They emphasised Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of the country’s bilateral relationship with India.

The PRC seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the United States, the report observes.

As of June 2021, the PRC and India continued to maintain large-scale deployments along the LAC and make preparations to sustain these forces while disengagement negotiations have made limited progress, it noted.