Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Vikash Parishad (AVP) has appealed to the Centre to deploy the Army throughout the Indo-China border, replacing the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force.
A 13-member delegation of tribal leaders from Arunachal Pradesh, under the banner of AVP, called on Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Defence Minister A K Antony and various central leaders, including opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, at Delhi recently and apprised them of the threat posed by China in the frontiers of Arunachal Pradesh, an AVP release said here on Monday.
The delegation, led by AVP president Pratik Potom, informed the central leaders that Chinese troops had intruded into Arunachal Pradesh in August this year.
While submitting a 14-point memorandum to the defence minister, they demanded deployment of Army in border areas, construction of motorable roads and other infrastructure in such areas, increased surveillance and patrolling posts all along the China occupied Tibet, improving and strengthening the ITBP and BSF, solving the contentious stapled visa issue and raising Arunachal Scouts Regiment at par with the Ladakh Scouts for better co-ordination with the local people.
The delegation also called for effective patrolling and surveillance to cope with the situation as per local needs, to use Border Area Development Funds (BADF) more effectively, constituting Border Village Security Committees in the border areas for active involvement of local people, checking drug trafficking from Myanmar to Lohit and Anjaw districts and improving the activities of SSB, NCC and Home guard type organisations in the area. (UNI)
