NEW DELHI: Despite troop disengagement in Depsang and Demchok last October and a flurry of top-level diplomatic meetings, there has been no let-up in China’s strengthening of its military positions and infrastructure all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
“The infrastructure development activities of the People’s Liberation Army are continuing at multiple locations along LAC. In the east, for instance, it is happening in Rongto Chu and other valleys,” a defence source told TOI.
‘Any Chinese deviations being raised at appropriate levels’
The strategically-located Yangtse in the crucial Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh is also witnessing China work assiduously to offset the tactical advantage India has in the area by controlling the high ground or ridgeline in the plateau for where it can see PLA positions. Apart from new military camps and the concrete road constructed from its Tangwu dual-use Xiaokang border village towards LAC in the area, PLA has also upgraded a couple of dirt tracks there to ensure it can “surge” troops in larger numbers if required, the source said.
Asked specifically by TOI about China’s continuing infrastructure build-up across Yangtse, an official Army source on Tuesday said both China and India are undertaking infrastructure development “all along the northern borders as per the guidelines enunciated in various agreements and protocols between the two countries”.
“Any deviation by the Chinese side, once observed, are being raised at appropriate levels during engagements through various existing mechanisms,” he added.
As per satellite imagery analyst @NatureDesai on X, China has been constructing two new roads, including one from Lampug towards Tangwu, during the ongoing winter months across Yangtse to provide alternative connectivity and higher ground to its troops. It will provide PLA an “unobstructed view of Indian ground lines of communication” in the area, he said.
Defence sources said PLA has been focusing on establishing last-mile connectivity across Tawang, Naku La in north Sikkim and a few other areas in the eastern sector.
Areas like Yangtse, where the rival troops had clashed in Dec 2022, Asaphila and Subansiri river valley in Arunachal Pradesh, which have been under Indian control for decades, remain major flashpoints between the rival armies.
The story of new Chinese roads, bridges, helipads, gun positions and the like coming up is similar in all the three sectors of the 3,488-km LAC, western (Ladakh), central (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal), with PLA troops continuing to be forward deployed with heavy weapon systems .
