China increases infrastructure build-up along LAC: Pentagon Report
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New Delhi: The US defense department Pentagon said China increased its infrastructure build-up and military presence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at border with India.
The Asian giant has set up underground storage facilities, new roads, a dual-purpose airport and multiple helipads among others along the LAC.
The 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China' report 2023 further said that China’s Western Theater Command implemented large-scale mobilisation and deployment along LAC.
‘Since early May 2020, sustained tensions along the India-China border have dominated the Western Theater Command's attention. Differing perceptions between India and the PRC regarding border demarcations along the LAC, combined with recent infrastructure construction on both sides, led to multiple clashes, an ongoing standoff, and military buildups along the shared border,’ the report was quoted as saying.
China made the infrastructure build-up following the Galwan Valley clash that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.
The report point out that talks between India and China ‘ made minimal progress as both sides resisted losing perceived advantages on the border.’
China, as per the report, went on to develop military infrastructure along LAC, setting up ‘underground storage facilities near Doklam, new roads in all three sectors of the LAC, new villages in disputed areas in neighboring Bhutan, a second bridge over Pangong Lake, a dual-purpose airport near the center sector, and multiple helipads.’
More important, the report revealed that China deployed one border regiment in 2022 ‘supported by two divisions of Xinjiang and Tibet Military Districts with four combined arms brigades (CAB) in reserve in the western sector of the LAC.’
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in June this year said that India was in talks with China at military and diplomatic level to resolve issues, adding that the government would not allow the sanctity of India’s borders be violated.