‘Sino-India border is friendly’
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) director general R.K. Bhatia on Thursday termed the India-China frontier as a “friendly border’’ and said that there was no ‘’hostile’’ activity like intrusions or encroachment on the border. His comments come days after the Indian Army Chief V.K. Singh called Pakistan and China as “irritants” for India.
The ITBP chief said the Sino-Indian border is termed “friendly” by the government and he would go by that definition. “I am completely ruling out any hostilities....There are no unfriendly activities... To our notice there is no infiltration,” he said at a press conference here on ITBP’s 49th Raising Day.
“Unlike the Pakistan border where there is conflict situation, there is no such activity which says that it (Chinese) is not a friendly border,” he maintained. The ITBP has at present deployed about 19 battalions (19,000 men) at the 3,488 km-long border, which Mr Bhatia said had “certain patches” where the distance between two border posts is nearly 100 kilometres.
“You see the point is there is no demarcation on this border. There are no border pillars on this border and there is no boundary on this border. We are guarding a friendly border...(what you are saying) they amount to unfriendly activities,” he said replying to a volley of questions by reporters on the Indo-China border.
Mr Bhatia also said that a huge restructuring plan for the force along the Sino-Indian border is under “positive and active consideration” of the government. The plan, once approved, will reduce the average gaps of about 20-25 kilometres with certain patches of 100 kilometres along the border and troops will undertake effective patrols.
For the paramilitary force, which has been engaged in anti-Naxal operations, the ITBP chief said the government has approved a special additional grant of `102 crores for the force, keeping in mind its duties in Naxal areas. The grants will be utilised for procuring certain special weapons like AK-47 rifles, equipments, night vision devices and thermal detectors.
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