(TibetanReview.net, Mar13’24) —China’s intentions to maintain “large troop deployments and sporadic encounters” with India (across occupied Tibet’s border) could risk “miscalculation and escalation into armed conflict”, reported indiatoday.in Mar 12, citing the United States’ 2024 Annual Threat Assessment released by the Director of National Intelligence.
“While the two sides have not engaged in significant cross-border clashes since 2020, they are maintaining large troop deployments, and sporadic encounters between opposing forces risk miscalculation and escalation into armed conflict,” wionews.com Mar 13 quoted the US intelligence report as saying.
China’s strategic deployments involve the expansion of a “Xiaokang” village network (moderately prosperous society) across the eastern and central sectors opposite the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said the indiatoday.in report.
The US intelligence assessment has stated that the shared disputed border between India and China will remain a strain on their bilateral relationship.
The news report noted that one such border defence village in Arunachal Pradesh lies just 3 kilometres from the strategic Se La pass, which was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and attracted criticism and diplomatic protest from China.
The Se La tunnel is meant to provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang across Se La pass on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road, which connects Tezpur in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
Amidst China’s assertions that Tawang and the broader Arunachal Pradesh region form part of what it terms as ‘southern Tibet’, India has significantly strengthened its military presence in the area. Additionally, India is advancing infrastructure development to enhance the logistical movement of troops in the region, the report said.
Begun in 2019, China has built a total of 628 “Xiaokang villages on the border” in Tibet’s southern border areas in keeping with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for “stabilising Tibet for the governance of frontier regions”. In all, there are 241,835 residents and 62,160 households in these villages in 21 Himalayan border counties, from Nyingchi (Tibetan: Nyingtri), Shannan (Lhokha) and Shigatse to Ngari prefecture, the report said, citing previous reports.
While the exact nature of these villages, built till 2021, is unclear, the establishments are perceived to be dual-use – both for civil and military purposes – and seen as a Chinese assertion of its territorial claims along the LAC, the news report said.
India has responded by launching a plan to 663 border villages with modern amenities under a Vibrant Villages programme. Of them, 17 have been selected as a pilot project in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, the report said.
In Arunachal Pradesh, villages in the eastern part of the state and in the Tawang region have been identified as Zemithang, Taksing, Chayang tajo, Tuting, and Kibithu, the report said. Besides, three major highways were also being developed – the Trans-Arunachal Highway, the Frontier Highway and the East-West Industrial Corridor Highway.
The US intelligence report sees China as “expanding its global covert influence posture” in alignment with the objectives of the Chinese Communist Party.