Indian Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi interacts with troops during an exercise (File photo)
New Delhi: The Indian Army on Monday debunked media reports claiming that troops of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had encroached into Arunachal Pradesh and established camps inside Indian territory, describing the allegations as “incorrect and without any basis.”
In a rebuttal statement issued on Monday, the army said it had seen media reports alleging recent PLA encroachment and the setting up of camps in the northeastern state, and that both claims were unfounded.
On June 26, a tribal organization – Nah Welfare Society (NWS) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district – wrote to the deputy collector, alleging that the Chinese PLA has gradually occupied parts of its ancestral land along the India-China border.
In their memorandum, the NWS claimed that traditional grazing grounds, hunting areas and agricultural land under the Taksing revenue circle have increasingly come under Chinese control over the past six years.
“Our ancestral lands, which were our hunting areas where we freely roamed and collected forest products a few years back, and our cattle grazing areas are now under the occupation of the Chinese PLA,” NWS President Keru Chader stated in the memorandum.
The organisation alleged that Chinese forces have expanded their presence across several locations, including Oying in the Asaphila area, Paniar (Chujarta), Marpan (Marnafe), Potrang Lake and Tindingtang, claiming these areas traditionally belonged to the local community until around 2020.
It further alleged that the PLA has constructed roads and military infrastructure inside what it described as Indian territory.
The NWS claimed that Chinese activity in the Taksing sector has intensified over the last decade to decade-and-a-half with the objective of steadily extending territorial control.
It is pertinent to mention here that Arunachal Pradesh has long been a flashpoint in the India-China boundary dispute. Beijing claims the entire state as part of “South Tibet”, a position India firmly rejects.
China periodically renames places within the state, a move New Delhi regards as an attempt to assert territorial claims. The PLA has, in the past, made brief incursions into areas along the disputed border, though the two sides have generally managed such episodes through established military-to-military protocols.
Both armies continue to maintain heavy deployments along the line of actual control (LAC) following the standoff in eastern Ladakh, which began in April-2020 and resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and at least similar number of Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash in June that year.
A series of military and diplomatic negotiations since then produced phased disengagement at several friction points in Ladakh, including Gogra-Hot Springs and Depsang Plains, with the two governments announcing in October 2024 that patrolling arrangements had been restored along the LAC.
However, the broader boundary question, which spans roughly 3,488 kilometres, remains unresolved and continues to generate periodic flare-ups in public discourse and media coverage.
