China undertook construction on illegally occupied border areas: Union gov

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday informed that China has undertaken construction activities along border areas, including areas it illegally occupied over the decades in the past several years.

Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India has taken note of the annual US Department of Defense report to the US Congress. The report makes a reference to the construction activities carried out by the Chinese side along the India-China borders and particularly in the eastern sector. The report had flagged that China has built a large 100-home civilian village in the disputed territory between the Tibet Autonomous Region and Arunachal Pradesh. Other infrastructure development efforts along the border have been a source of concern for the Indian government and media, the report added.

The government has always conveyed its protest to such activities through diplomatic channels and will continue to do so, Bagchi said. "India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims," he said.

"Further, as conveyed earlier, the government has also stepped up border infrastructure, including the construction of roads, bridges etc., which has provided much-needed connectivity to the local population along the borders," he added.

The government is committed to creating infrastructure along the border areas for improvement of the livelihood of its citizens, including in Arunachal Pradesh, he said.

"The government keeps a constant watch on all the developments having a bearing on India's security, and takes all the necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Bagchi said.

Regarding the claims made in the US report, a senior security official stated that the said village has been under Chinese control since 1959. It was allegedly built by China in the area occupied by the Chinese People's Liberation Army after overrunning on Assam Rifles post in 1959. The operation was known as Longju, and it was conducted along the frontiers in Arunachal Pradesh.