(TibetanReview.net, Apr29’24) —As China continues its substantial build-up of military or military-related infrastructure in occupied Tibet close to the line of actual control (LAC) after its violent cross-border attacks jolted India four years ago, New Delhi has sought to make it clear that it will not be cowered.
While expressing optimism about the ongoing talks with China, stating that they were progressing smoothly and in a positive atmosphere, India’s Defence minister Rajnath Singh has emphasized Apr 28 that New Delhi will never compromise its stance.
“India is no longer a weak India. India has also become a powerful country from a military point of view. We want to maintain good relations with our neighbouring countries,” the timesofindia.com Apr 28 quoted Singh as saying, responding to the opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra the Modi government’s handling of Chinese aggression.
Visiting Ahmedabad to support BJP candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Singh has highlighted India’s military strength and also its desire to foster good relations with neighbouring countries.
He has urged everyone to be patient while awaiting the outcome of the talks, assuring the nation that “India has not bowed down anywhere, nor will it ever bow down.”
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Meanwhile, four years into the face-to-face military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, which also triggered tensions all along the LAC, there has been no let-up in the way China continues to build border infrastructure and dual-use ‘Xiaokang’ villages, strengthen military positions and deploy additional aircraft at its air-bases facing India, reported the timesofindia.com Apr 29.
It cited latest satellite imagery, intelligence reports and other inputs as showing this ongoing Chinese activity in all the three sectors of the 3,488-km LAC, stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
“People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is relentlessly consolidating its military positions and support infrastructure in various depth and staging areas along the LAC, including near the buffer zones created after troop disengagements in eastern Ladakh,” it cited a source as saying.
For instance, China recently completed construction of a road from the north of Samzungling to the Galwan Valley, providing the PLA with a 15-km shorter alternate axis to rapidly build-up troops in the area.
Also, the PLA has been progressively strengthening military and transport infrastructure to the rear of the other buffer zones on both banks of Pangong Tso, including the Kailash range, and Gogra-Hot Springs, all of which have largely come up in areas that India considers its territory.
Besides, the PLA has also been focusing on last-mile connectivity through roads, bridges, tunnels and helipads to its forward positions, while also constructing new bunkers, camps, underground shelters, artillery positions, radar sites and ammunition dumps in other stretches of the LAC. “This increased PLA activity is especially being seen in the eastern sector, across Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Naku La in north Sikkim,” another source was quoted as saying.
India, of course, continues to match the PLA with “mirror military deployments”, while it has also majorly cranked up infrastructure and capability development along the frontier, the report said.
China has also offset some of its air combat disadvantage due to high-altitude terrain constraints by deploying additional fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and drones after upgrading its airfields like Hotan and Kashgar (in Xinjiang), as well as Gargunsa, Shigatse, Bangda, Nyingchi and Hoping (in occupied Tibet), among others, with new and extended runways, hardened shelters, fuel and ammunition storage facilities, the report said.