Aalo:

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 28,229 crore for constructing the 1,637 km Arunachal Frontier Highway connecting 12 districts of the state along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the India-China international border, a top official said.

The ambitious project to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore is seen as a move to counter China’s aggression in Arunachal Pradesh, besides contributing to the socio-economic development of the border state.

The highway is being constructed along the ‘India-Tibet-China-Myanmar’ border and the road project will be as close as 20 km from the LAC and international borders.

It will start from Bomdila and pass through Nafra, Huri and Monigong towns, which are closer to the LAC or the McMahon Line, and conclude in Vijaynagar near the India-Myanmar border.

“The Centre has sanctioned Rs 28,229 crore for the Arunachal Frontier Highway, which will connect 1,683 villages. The national highway being built parallel to the MacMohan Line will be completed by 2027,” Chief Engineer of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and head of Project Brahmank, Subhash Chandra Lunia, said.

He said work is under progress for constructing the 198 km stretch (Tato-Tuting) of the Arunachal Frontier National Highway-913.

After 2014, the budget for BRO’s work in various states has been doubled for road development and maintenance as compared to the previous years, the official said.

Stating that work is underway on projects under the Brahmank Project in Arunachal Pradesh, Lunia said construction and maintenance of road infrastructure is being done in Siang, Upper Siang, West Siang and Shi-Yomi districts along with maintenance of four roads in Assam’s Dhemaji district.

In 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Brahmank Project constructed a 100-metre span arch bridge on Siom River on Along-Yingkiong road. The construction of Siom bridge was completed in a record time of 180 days and opened for traffic, he said.

Lunia also said that from the day of establishment of the Brahmank Project till today, construction of 17 roads has been completed, whose total length is 496 km.

Along with this, the construction of 42 permanent bridges and 11 modular bridges has also been completed.

The official also said the BRO has always been at the forefront of construction of roads/bridges in favourable and unfavourable weather conditions for the last many years in the state.

Under Brahmank Project, BRO is committed to provide all-weather connectivity to the soldiers as well as the public.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Canberra:

India and China concluded the last lot of disengagement on October 21 and the implementation process is going on, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, while calling this a “positive development.”

The Foreign Minister was holding a joint presser with his Australian Counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

Being asked about the recent disengagement between India and China, Jaishankar said, “On October 21st we concluded the last lot of disengagement agreements, we had done some earlier. These are currently in the process of being implemented. The last agreement was primarily around patrolling rights of the two sides. So we think all in all it’s a positive development.”

The EAM said that Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed for meetings between the national security advisors and foreign ministers of the two countries.

“The fact that with that, once it’s done the disengagement process is completed, we have other challenges to address including de-escalation of forces but at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting Prime Minister Modi and President Xi had a meeting. It was agreed that the foreign ministers and the national security advisors would meet, so we will have to look at further building on this,” he added.

PM Modi and Chinese President Xi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. Prime Minister Modi stated that ties between the two nations are important for the people of India and China and for regional and global peace and stability.

The sentiment was also reiterated by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who last week said, “At some areas along the LAC, discussions have been ongoing between India and China at both diplomatic and military levels to resolve conflicts. Following recent talks, there has been a broad consensus to restore the ground situation. This consensus has developed on the basis of equal and mutual security. The agreement includes rights related to patrolling and grazing in traditional areas”.

He added, “Based on this consensus, the disengagement process is nearly complete. We will strive to move beyond just disengagement, but for that, we will need to wait a little longer.”

This came after both India and China confirmed that an agreement had been reached between the two nations regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, sparked by Chinese military actions. This incident led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.

Spokesperson of MFA: The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment. pic.twitter.com/iB7mWPQUfs

— Yu Jing (@ChinaSpox_India) November 5, 2024

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India announced on the social media platform, X, “The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment”.

Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong had also earlier said that he hoped the bilateral ties would move forward smoothly and ties between both countries would not be restricted or interrupted by specific disagreements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Canberra:

India and China concluded the last lot of disengagement on October 21 and the implementation process is going on, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, while calling this a “positive development.”

The Foreign Minister was holding a joint presser with his Australian Counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

Being asked about the recent disengagement between India and China, Jaishankar said, “On October 21st we concluded the last lot of disengagement agreements, we had done some earlier. These are currently in the process of being implemented. The last agreement was primarily around patrolling rights of the two sides. So we think all in all it’s a positive development.”

The EAM said that Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed for meetings between the national security advisors and foreign ministers of the two countries.

“The fact that with that, once it’s done the disengagement process is completed, we have other challenges to address including de-escalation of forces but at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting Prime Minister Modi and President Xi had a meeting. It was agreed that the foreign ministers and the national security advisors would meet, so we will have to look at further building on this,” he added.

PM Modi and Chinese President Xi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. Prime Minister Modi stated that ties between the two nations are important for the people of India and China and for regional and global peace and stability.

The sentiment was also reiterated by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who last week said, “At some areas along the LAC, discussions have been ongoing between India and China at both diplomatic and military levels to resolve conflicts. Following recent talks, there has been a broad consensus to restore the ground situation. This consensus has developed on the basis of equal and mutual security. The agreement includes rights related to patrolling and grazing in traditional areas”.

He added, “Based on this consensus, the disengagement process is nearly complete. We will strive to move beyond just disengagement, but for that, we will need to wait a little longer.”

This came after both India and China confirmed that an agreement had been reached between the two nations regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, sparked by Chinese military actions. This incident led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.

Spokesperson of MFA: The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment. pic.twitter.com/iB7mWPQUfs

— Yu Jing (@ChinaSpox_India) November 5, 2024

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India announced on the social media platform, X, “The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment”.

Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong had also earlier said that he hoped the bilateral ties would move forward smoothly and ties between both countries would not be restricted or interrupted by specific disagreements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The disengagement of Indian and Chinese forces near the Line of Actual Control is “almost over”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said today. The minister said that while India wants to go “beyond disengagement”, this would “take time”.

“India and China have been holding talks at both diplomatic and military levels to resolve the differences in some areas along the LAC. As a result of the talks, a broad consensus was developed on the basis of equal and mutual security. The consensus includes the rights of patrolling and grazing in traditional areas. Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer,” he said.

The Defence Minister today dedicated to the nation a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose birth anniversary is being celebrated today, at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. He also opened the Major Ralengnao ‘Bob’ Khathing ‘Museum of Valour’. Mr Singh inaugurated these from the Army headquarters in Assam’s Tezpur after he could not travel to Tawang due to bad weather.

Mr Singh paid tributes to Sardar Patel for his key role in unifying over 560 princely states after India’s Independence in 1947. “This statue ‘Desh Ka Vallabh’ will inspire people reminding them of the strength in unity and the unwavering spirit required to build a nation as diverse as ours,” he said.

He also paid respects to Major Bob Khathing for his contribution to the Northeast region and national security. “Major Khathing not only led the peaceful integration of Tawang into India but also established essential military and security frameworks, including the Sashastra Seema Bal, Nagaland Armed Police, and the Naga Regiment. The ‘Museum of Valour’ now stands as a tribute to his bravery and foresight, inspiring generations to come,” he said.

In a step towards easing the tension at the LAC following the violent clashes in Galwan Valley in 2020, India and China last week agreed on a patrolling agreement under which both sides will fall back to their pre-April 2020 positions. Delhi and Beijing, however, will continue to have surveillance options in Depsang and Demchok, and will inform the other side before stepping out on patrol “to avoid any miscommunication”.

The agreement was announced hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Russia visit for the BRICS summit where he spoke to China President Xi Jinping. Mr Modi told the Chinese leader, “It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border”, and stressed the need for “mutual trust, mutual respect”.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting in Russia’s Kazan today, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit that both leaders attended. This is the first “formal bilateral meeting” between the PM Modi and President Xi since the military stand-off between both countries began in 2020.

Ties between India and China took a severe hit and came to an abrupt halt after the military clash in Galwan Valley. It took four years of diplomatic and military-level talks between both sides to finally come to an agreement to reinstate the status quo to what it was before the stand-off in 2020.

Both countries welcomed the move and in less than 72 after the disengagement agreement, the two leaders met in Russia today.

To understand what exactly had happened back in 2020, what the friction points were, and the kind of build up China had in place since then – which has now been dismantled, we need maps and satellite images.

UNDERSTANDING THE MAP

This is the map of Ladakh with the Line of Actual Control or LAC marked in red. The area between the LAC and the original border in black is the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh occupied by China since the 1962 war. While Galwan Valley was where the military clash happened in May, 2020, there were several other friction points, namely – Depsang, Galwan, Gogra Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Demchok.

Shortly after the uprising in China in 1959, and the occupation of Tibet that year, China started making claims in areas that fall in Ladakh, an “integral and inalienable” part of India. During the Sino-India war of 1962, Chinese troops had crossed the original border but had to withdraw later. It however never withdrew from Aksai Chin.

The dotted red line in the map above represents the approximate patrol points established by India and are the farthest points till where Indian soldiers patrol. All the areas labelled along the LAC are points where Chinese troops blocked Indian soldiers from reaching the last patrol point that would walk up to till 2020. This led to the military stand-off between India and China.

After the Galwan Clash in May, 2020, both sides brought in reinforcements – tens of thousands of troops and military hardware from tanks and artillery guns to fighter jets and drones. At this stage both sides started engaging in talks – both at diplomatic and military levels.

The disengagement talks began and both sides created disengagement zones, also known as buffer zones in the areas of Galwan – where the clash happened, Gogra Hot Springs, and Pangong.

What is a buffer zone?

• Soldiers from both sides, as a result of a grievance, agreed to go back a certain number of kilometers, and the areas that fell in between, which included points that were disputed would be where troops from neither side would go. Structures that were built in these locations during the stand-off by either side were also removed as the disengagement talks progressed over the months and years.

SATELLITE IMAGES

Here are a set of satellite images show the way the situation developed since 2020:

This image shows the north side of the Pangong Lake where in June, 2020, Chinese soldiers came to an area that India claims and put markings of the flag of China and wrote beneath it in Mandarin that “This area belongs to China”. This was a time when the Chinese had come right in along the Pangong Lake.

This second image is also from the north bank of the Pangong Lake and a place where the Chinese had a major built-up area.

This third image shows the south bank of the Pangong Lake where the Chinese troops had brought in their boats (left side of the image) and the right side shows how these were eventually removed by Beijing as the disengagement process moved forward at a slow but steady pace.

This fourth image is from where it all began – The Galwan Valley – where the clash took place in which soldiers on either side were killed in action. China set up and built multiple structures along the banks of the river and in the area where the river meanders. In this photo, the LAC is approximately 400 meters south of where the river is seen bending to the right. These were areas where Indian soldiers would patrol in the past, but in 2020, the Chinese soldiers attempted to stop them from doing that.

In this fifth satellite image, we take a look at the Gogra Hot Springs area – an area which had seen conflict in 1962 as well. The screen is divided in two – the left showing the Chinese build-up in 2021, which they later dismantled in 2022 and vacated the area, as seen on the right.

The sixth satellite image shows the relocated Chinese base. This was set up by China 3 kilometers south of the spot they vacated in the image shown above this one.

This seventh image gives a clearer picture of where the Chinese had built a structure and where they relocated to as the disengagement talks continued. This was part of the buffer zone that was created in this particular area.

The eighth image shows the area in Depsang – an area of real concern. In a place called the Y-junction in Depsang, Chinese troops have set up a base and have been preventing Indian soldiers to patrol up to a point where they used to before 2020. As the photo shows, Indian soldiers have been prevented from moving east (right). If after the latest agreement of shifting the status quo to pre-2020 times, then Indian soldiers would now be able to patrol right up to the farthest point where they used to.

WHAT PM MODI TOLD XI JINPING IN THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL MEET AFTER 2020

“Excellency, I am happy to meet you, and like you mentioned, this is a formal meeting between us after five years. It is my belief that the importance of India-China relations is not just for the citizens of our two countries, but also very significant for peace, stability, and progress for the entire world.

Excellency, We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years along the border. It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border. Mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual sensitivity should be the basis our bilateral relations. Today, we have got an opportunity to speak about all these issues and I trust that we will hold these talks with an open mind and that our talks will be constructive going forward. Thank you.”
 

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting in Russia’s Kazan today, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit that both leaders attended. This is the first “formal bilateral meeting” between the PM Modi and President Xi since the military stand-off between both countries began in 2020.

Ties between India and China took a severe hit and came to an abrupt halt after the military clash in Galwan Valley. It took four years of diplomatic and military-level talks between both sides to finally come to an agreement to reinstate the status quo to what it was before the stand-off in 2020.

Both countries welcomed the move and in less than 72 after the disengagement agreement, the two leaders met in Russia today.

To understand what exactly had happened back in 2020, what the friction points were, and the kind of build up China had in place since then – which has now been dismantled, we need maps and satellite images.

UNDERSTANDING THE MAP

This is the map of Ladakh with the Line of Actual Control or LAC marked in red. The area between the LAC and the original border in black is the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh occupied by China since the 1962 war. While Galwan Valley was where the military clash happened in May, 2020, there were several other friction points, namely – Depsang, Galwan, Gogra Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Demchok.

Shortly after the uprising in China in 1959, and the occupation of Tibet that year, China started making claims in areas that fall in Ladakh, an “integral and inalienable” part of India. During the Sino-India war of 1962, Chinese troops had crossed the original border but had to withdraw later. It however never withdrew from Aksai Chin.

The dotted red line in the map above represents the approximate patrol points established by India and are the farthest points till where Indian soldiers patrol. All the areas labelled along the LAC are points where Chinese troops blocked Indian soldiers from reaching the last patrol point that would walk up to till 2020. This led to the military stand-off between India and China.

After the Galwan Clash in May, 2020, both sides brought in reinforcements – tens of thousands of troops and military hardware from tanks and artillery guns to fighter jets and drones. At this stage both sides started engaging in talks – both at diplomatic and military levels.

The disengagement talks began and both sides created disengagement zones, also known as buffer zones in the areas of Galwan – where the clash happened, Gogra Hot Springs, and Pangong.

What is a buffer zone?

• Soldiers from both sides, as a result of a grievance, agreed to go back a certain number of kilometers, and the areas that fell in between, which included points that were disputed would be where troops from neither side would go. Structures that were built in these locations during the stand-off by either side were also removed as the disengagement talks progressed over the months and years.

SATELLITE IMAGES

Here are a set of satellite images show the way the situation developed since 2020:

This image shows the north side of the Pangong Lake where in June, 2020, Chinese soldiers came to an area that India claims and put markings of the flag of China and wrote beneath it in Mandarin that “This area belongs to China”. This was a time when the Chinese had come right in along the Pangong Lake.

This second image is also from the north bank of the Pangong Lake and a place where the Chinese had a major built-up area.

This third image shows the south bank of the Pangong Lake where the Chinese troops had brought in their boats (left side of the image) and the right side shows how these were eventually removed by Beijing as the disengagement process moved forward at a slow but steady pace.

This fourth image is from where it all began – The Galwan Valley – where the clash took place in which soldiers on either side were killed in action. China set up and built multiple structures along the banks of the river and in the area where the river meanders. In this photo, the LAC is approximately 400 meters south of where the river is seen bending to the right. These were areas where Indian soldiers would patrol in the past, but in 2020, the Chinese soldiers attempted to stop them from doing that.

In this fifth satellite image, we take a look at the Gogra Hot Springs area – an area which had seen conflict in 1962 as well. The screen is divided in two – the left showing the Chinese build-up in 2021, which they later dismantled in 2022 and vacated the area, as seen on the right.

The sixth satellite image shows the relocated Chinese base. This was set up by China 3 kilometers south of the spot they vacated in the image shown above this one.

This seventh image gives a clearer picture of where the Chinese had built a structure and where they relocated to as the disengagement talks continued. This was part of the buffer zone that was created in this particular area.

The eighth image shows the area in Depsang – an area of real concern. In a place called the Y-junction in Depsang, Chinese troops have set up a base and have been preventing Indian soldiers to patrol up to a point where they used to before 2020. As the photo shows, Indian soldiers have been prevented from moving east (right). If after the latest agreement of shifting the status quo to pre-2020 times, then Indian soldiers would now be able to patrol right up to the farthest point where they used to.

WHAT PM MODI TOLD XI JINPING IN THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL MEET AFTER 2020

“Excellency, I am happy to meet you, and like you mentioned, this is a formal meeting between us after five years. It is my belief that the importance of India-China relations is not just for the citizens of our two countries, but also very significant for peace, stability, and progress for the entire world.

Excellency, We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years along the border. It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border. Mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual sensitivity should be the basis our bilateral relations. Today, we have got an opportunity to speak about all these issues and I trust that we will hold these talks with an open mind and that our talks will be constructive going forward. Thank you.”
 

New Delhi:

India and China on Thursday had a “frank, constructive and forward-looking” exchange of views on the situation along the LAC to “narrow down” differences and find an early resolution to outstanding issues, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The 31st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs was held in Beijing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

During the meeting, it was reiterated that “restoration of peace and tranquillity, and respect for the LAC are the essential basis for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations”, it said.

In line with the guidance provided by the two foreign ministers’ meetings in Astana and Vientiane in July to accelerate the discussions, and building on the WMCC meeting held last month, “the two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues”, the statement said.

For this, they further agreed for “intensified contact through diplomatic and military channels”.

Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (east Asia), from the MEA led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by Hong Liang, director general of the Boundary & Ocean Affairs Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the meantime, the two sides decided to jointly uphold peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas, in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols and understandings reached between the two governments, the MEA statement said.

The leader of the Indian delegation also called on the vice-minister in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 30th meeting of the WMCC was held in New Delhi on July 31.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

India and China on Thursday had a “frank, constructive and forward-looking” exchange of views on the situation along the LAC to “narrow down” differences and find an early resolution to outstanding issues, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The 31st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs was held in Beijing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

During the meeting, it was reiterated that “restoration of peace and tranquillity, and respect for the LAC are the essential basis for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations”, it said.

In line with the guidance provided by the two foreign ministers’ meetings in Astana and Vientiane in July to accelerate the discussions, and building on the WMCC meeting held last month, “the two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues”, the statement said.

For this, they further agreed for “intensified contact through diplomatic and military channels”.

Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (east Asia), from the MEA led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by Hong Liang, director general of the Boundary & Ocean Affairs Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the meantime, the two sides decided to jointly uphold peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas, in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols and understandings reached between the two governments, the MEA statement said.

The leader of the Indian delegation also called on the vice-minister in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 30th meeting of the WMCC was held in New Delhi on July 31.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed after their tank met with an accident during a river-crossing exercise near the Line of Actual Control in Leh’s Daulat Beg Oldi area in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.

A Junior Commissioned Officer, or JCO, is among the five killed in the accident that happened around 1 am.

The soldiers were on a training mission and were crossing the Bodhi River near Mandir Morh, 148 kilometres from Leh, on their T-72 tank when suddenly the water levels began to rise, official sources said. Soon the tank and the soldiers were submerged in the swelling river, they added.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the nation in mourning the deaths and said: “Deeply saddened at the loss of lives of five of our brave Indian Army soldiers in an unfortunate accident while getting the tank across a river in Ladakh. We will never forget the exemplary service of our gallant soldiers to the nation. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The nation stands firm with them during this hour of grief,” he posted on X.

New Delhi:

China stepped up its military presence and infrastructure build-up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2022 amid the border tension with India, a Pentagon report has said. Underground storage facilities, new roads, a dual-purpose airport and multiple helipads are part of Beijing’s infrastructure push along the LAC, according to ‘Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China’ report 2023.

“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 says.

It adds that China’s Western Theater Command implemented large-scale mobilisation and deployment along LAC in response to the Galwan Valley clash that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers. The deployments, the report said, are likely to continue through this year.

The report underlines that negotiations between India and China “made minimal progress as both sides resisted losing perceived advantages on the border”.

Listing Beijing’s infrastructure build-up along LAC, the report says, “In 2022, China continued to develop military infrastructure along the LAC. These improvements include 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.”

On military deployments, it says, “In 2022, China deployed one border regiment, 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. China also deployed as many as three light-to-medium CABs in the eastern sector from other theater commands and an additional three CABs in the central sector of the LAC. Although some elements of a light CAB eventually withdrew, a majority of the deployed forces remain in place along the LAC.”

Earlier, in June this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said India is talking to China at both military and diplomatic levels to resolve issues. He had added that the government would never let the sanctity of India’s borders be violated.

“I want to repeat that there have been some activities on the LAC since 2013, but I outrightly reject (claims) that there has been any significant change or encroachment on the LAC after our government was formed,” Mr Singh had said at a security conclave, responding to the Opposition’s charge at the Narendra Modi government over tension along the LAC.

The Pentagon report also says China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably have over 1,000 by 2030. It added that the Chinese Navy, already the largest in the world, is growing further.