‘China built villages, constructed road near border’

The people said a number of Chinese drones flew close to the LAC prompting the IAF to scramble the jets and increase the overall combat readiness.

New Delhi: Satellite images shows that China has built villages on their side of the India-China border abutting Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, and the PLA army has also constructed a road on that side, Indian Army sources said on Tuesday, a day after a clash between troops of both sides last week became public.

The Indian Air Force scrambled fighter jets last week following China’s increasing air activities, people familiar with the matter said. The deployment of some aerial platforms including drones by China in the region preceded the Chinese attempts on December 9 to unilaterally change the status quo in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector, they said.

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The people said a number of Chinese drones flew close to the LAC prompting the IAF to scramble the jets and increase the overall combat readiness.

They said the IAF has also stepped up its overall surveillance in areas in view of the Chinese attempt of transgression on December 9, adding it follows standard operation procedures that included scrambling of fighter jets in case of specific security concerns.

“The situation is being monitored closely by both the IAF and the Army,” said one of the people cited above.

The people indicated that the IAF has increased the frequency of sorties by its combat jets in the region.

On the clash, sources said that as many as 300 Chinese troops had arrived near the LAC on December 9 to gain control over the peak of a 17,000-feet-high mountain under a well-planned conspiracy, but the Indian troops foiled their attempt, the source said. Although, China has maintained that the situation on its border with India is stable but according to sources, the Chinese soldiers had come with barbed sticks near the LAC on December 9. India has taken a tough stand on the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers. A meeting with the chiefs of all three Armed Forces, the CDS, and the NSA was also called by the Defence Minister. The clash between Indian and Chinese troops on December 9 took place at the 17,000 feet at Yangtse, some 35 km north-east of Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.

China has been repeatedly trying to take control of the 17,000-feet-high peak but Indian Army sources said that India has a firm control of the peak, which provides a commanding view on both sides of the border.