New Delhi:Rebuffing China for objecting to US Ambassador Richard Verma’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, India today said there was “nothing unusual” about his trip to a state which is an integral part of the country.

“The US Ambassador visited Arunachal Pradesh, a state which is an integral part of the country to which he is accredited. There is nothing unusual in it,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said here.

Taking exception to the visit by Verma, China said it was firmly opposed to it and that any interference by Washington in the Sino-India boundary dispute will make it “more complicated” and “disturb” hard won peace at the border.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang also asked the US to desist from interfering in the India-China border dispute while referring to Verma’s October 22 tour to Tawang at the invitation of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

“We have also noted that the place visited by senior US diplomatic official is a disputed region between China and India. We are firmly opposed to his visit,” he said.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely protests visits by Indian leaders, foreign officials as well as the Dalai Lama to the area.

China warns US against meddling after envoy’s Arunachal trip

Beijing:China today warned the US that any interference by it in the Sino-India boundary dispute will make it “more complicated” and “disturb” hard-won peace at the border, days after the US envoy in India visited Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims as southern Tibet.

Asking the US to desist from interfering in the India-China border dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here that China is firmly opposed to the visit.

Referring to US envoy Richard Verma’s October 22 tour to Tawang at the invitation of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Lu said that the US envoy visited a “disputed region”.

“We have also noted that the place visited by senior US diplomatic official is a disputed region between China and India. We are firmly opposed to his visit,” he said.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely protests visits by Indian leaders, foreign officials as well as the Dalai Lama to the area.

“China’s position on eastern section of the China-India boundary is very clear and consistent. The two countries are now trying to resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and consultations,” he said referring to the Special Representatives mechanism headed by National Security Advisors of both countries to find a solution.

Both sides held 19th round of Special Representatives’ talks to resolve the disputes over the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Lu said “any third party with a sense of responsibility should respect efforts made by China and India for peace reconciliation and tranquility rather than the opposite,” he said.

The behaviour by the US contrasts the efforts made by China and India, he said.

“It will only make the dispute more complicated, disturb the hard-won peace and tranquility of border areas and sabotage peaceful development of the region,” Lu said.

“We urge the US to stop its interference in the boundary issue between China and India and make more contribution to regional peace and stability,” he said.

The boundary question between China and India is very complex and sensitive, he said adding that “the interference by a third party will only stir up or heighten tensions”.

“At the end of the day only the peoples of the two countries will fall victims,” he said.

“We believe India and China as two major countries have enough wisdom to properly to deal with this issue and safeguard the fundamental interest of the two peoples,” Lu said.

China objects to US Ambassador’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh

Beijing:Taking exception to the visit by US envoy in India to Arunachal Pradesh which it claims as southern Tibet, China today said any interference by Washington in the Sino-India boundary dispute will make it “more complicated” and “disturb” hard-won peace at the border.

Asking the US to desist from interfering in the India-China border dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here that China is firmly opposed to the visit.

Referring to US envoy Richard Verma’s October 22 tour to Tawang at the invitation of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Lu said while replying to a question that the US envoy visited a “disputed region”.

“We have also noted that the place visited by senior US diplomatic official is a disputed region between China and India. We are firmly opposed to his visit,” he said.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely protests visits by Indian leaders, foreign officials as well as the Dalai Lama to the area.

“China’s position on eastern section of the China-India boundary is very clear and consistent. The two countries are now trying to resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and consultations,” he said referring to the Special Representatives mechanism headed by National Security Advisors of both countries to find a solution.

Both sides held 19th round of Special Representatives’ talks to resolve the disputes over the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Lu said “any third party with a sense of responsibility should respect efforts made by China and India for peace reconciliation and tranquility rather than the opposite,” he said.

The behaviour by the US contrasts the efforts made by China and India, he said.

“It will only make the dispute more complicated, disturb the hard-won peace and tranquility of border areas and sabotage peaceful development of the region,” Lu said.

“We urge the US to stop its interference in the boundary issue between China and India and make more contribution to regional peace and stability,” he said.

The boundary question between China and India is very complex and sensitive, he said adding that “the interference by a third party will only stir up or heighten tensions”.

“At the end of the day only the peoples of the two countries will fall victims,” he said.

“We believe India and China as two major countries have enough wisdom to properly to deal with this issue and safeguard the fundamental interest of the two peoples,” Lu said.

Transgressions by Chinese PLA going down steadily: ITBP DG

Greater Noida:India is working at a galloping pace to deploy modern weaponry, surveillance equipments and other facilities for its troops on the China border even as transgressions by Chinese PLA forces is “going down steadily, the chief of Sino-India border guarding force ITBP said here today.

Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Krishna Chaudhary said transgressions made by Chinese PLA forces is “going down steadily” but declined to give the exact number of such incidents in the past.

Official figures said while in 2015 about 500 transgressions were reported along this 3,488 km long border, it went down to 350 during the last year and this year only about 200 such violations have taken place till now.

“All I can say is that these incidents of transgressions take place due to the difference of perception. This is a perceptional difference of the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” the ITBP DG said while addressing a press conference to mark the 55th Raising Day of the force.

On being asked on the developments being witnessed on the other side, Chaudhary said “infrastructure on that side has grown tremendously.”

“We were a little slow to start in the growth of infrastructure but now we are doing it at a galloping pace. We are getting new border posts, vehicles, weaponry and surveillance gadgets. We are very fast catching up,” he said after reviewing the ceremonial parade of the paramilitary force at its base here.

The DG added that enhancement of border infrastructure along China is a “thrust area” for the government and the force even as troop levels have been enhanced by the ITBP on 116 BoPs in the recent past.

Chaudhary said a total of 172 new Border out Posts (BoPs), out of the total 176, have been raised on this border while work has been “fast paced” to build border roads in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, that share their borders with China.

“We had started work on 27 roads and I can tell you that on eight of these, work has been completed,” he said.

The ITBP chief said government sanctions have also been received for converting/creating 50 high-altitude BoPs on this icy border as “composite” ones which will have a central heating and 24X7 supply of liquid water for troops manning this arduous frontier which is marred by vagaries of sub-zero temperatures and blizzards.

The ITBP Director General also said all those ITBP BoPs which are connected by roads will be provided with SUV vehicles in the coming days even as 33 of such high-powered vehicles have already been dispatched to the front.

The ITBP has 95 such BoPs along the Chinese frontier.

In order to keep the morale of the border guarding troops high and also keep them healthy, the ITBP has embarked on a special programme to enhance the existing green huts and create more such facilities that produce fresh and nutritious vegetables under controlled conditions in high-altitude.

Even, the DG said, 80 more ponies are being purchased by the force which act as the ‘life line’ for supply of rations and ammunition to ITBP men deployed on the front.

The about 80,000 personnel strong force was raised in 1962 in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression.

Infra along China border being enhanced at “galloping pace”:ITBP DG

Greater Noida:Asserting that enhancement of border infrastructure along China is a “thrust area”, the ITBP chief today said it is being done at a “galloping pace” by having new border posts, vehicles, weaponry and surveillance gadgets.

Giving this information at a press conference here to mark the 55th Raising Day of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), its Director General Krishna Chaudhary also said transgressions by Chinese PLA forces at the border is going down steadily. ITBP is tasked with guarding the 3,488-km long Sino-India border.

He, however, declined to give the exact number of such incidents in the past.

Official figures said while in 2015 about 500 transgressions were reported along the border, it went down to 350 last year and this year about 200 such violations have taken place till now.

“All I can say is that these incidents of transgressions take place due to the difference of perception. This is a perceptional difference of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).”

Asked about the developments being witnessed on the other side of the border, Chaudhary said, “infrastructure on that side has grown tremendously.”

“We were a little slow to start in the growth of infrastructure but now we are doing it at a galloping pace. We are getting new border posts, vehicles, weaponry and surveillance gadgets. We are very fast catching up,” he said after reviewing the ceremonial parade of the paramilitary force at its base here.

The DG added that enhancement of border infrastructure along China is a “thrust area” for the government and the force even as troop levels have been enhanced by the ITBP at 116 BoPs in the recent past.

Chaudhary said a total of 172 new Border out Posts (BoPs), out of the total 176, have been raised on this border while work has been “fast paced” to build border roads in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, that share their borders with China.

“We had started work on 27 roads and I can tell you that on eight of these, work has been completed,” he said.

The ITBP chief said government sanctions have also been received for converting/creating 50 high-altitude BoPs on this icy border as “composite” ones which will have a central heating and 24X7 supply of liquid water for troops manning this arduous frontier which is marred by vagaries of sub-zero temperatures and blizzards.

PTI