No visible encroachment/incursion in Arunachal by China since 1962: BJP leader

Itanagar, May 22:  There has been no noticeable encroachment or incursion of Indian land along Arunachal Pradesh by Chinese military or civilians since 1962, said the state’s BJP Vice-President Tarh Tarak, who led a four-month long ‘Seema Yatra’ along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,129 km border with China’s Tibet.

A team of 10 BJP leaders launched the Seema Yatra on December 22, 2022, in the Anjaw sector and ended in the Tawang sector on April 24 this year.

Local party leaders joined each leg of the tour in phases.

Addressing the media, Tarak said that during the tour they interacted with the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel posted along the LAC, as well as with residents of the border villages.

“We learnt that the situation on the frontier is normal and peaceful,” he said quoting the villagers.

He said that according to the villagers, there was no visible encroachment or incursion of India’s land by China.

But personnel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sometimes enter Indian territory inadvertently or by mistake during long-range patrols along the LAC and Indian Army soldiers challenged the PLA’s attempt, the BJP leader said.

Tarak said that they decided to conduct the tour after Chinese and Indian troops clashed along the LAC at Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, 2022, which created an uproar across the country.

Some soldiers from both India and China sustained minor injuries during the clash.

“Both sides, however, disengaged from the area within a few days. A similar incident took place in October 2021, when a large PLA patrolling team was detained for a few hours by the Indian Army near Yangtse. Our endeavour was to salute the armed forces personnel protecting the border in hostile conditions and also to physically witness the border posts and be acquainted with the ground reality,” he said.

“The tour gave us an accurate idea of the border situation and prevailing problems faced by the border villagers and the progress of the implementation of various central and state government schemes.”

Five youths who went hunting on September 2, 2020, were allegedly whisked away by the PLA from Sera-7, an Army patrol zone located in Upper Subansiri district.

They were later released in the Anjaw district after a few days.

On January 18, 2022, a youth was abducted at gunpoint from a jungle at Lungta Jor in Upper Siang district.

He was released on January 28 this year.