New Delhi Takes Note Of US Military Report On Chinas Construction Activities Along LAC - UrduPoint

 

New Dehli has taken into consideration a recent report by the US Department of Defense that China has set up a large village in a disputed territory along the eastern sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.

In its annual report on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China", released last week, the Pentagon said that Beijing built in September 2020 a large 100-home village in a disputed territory between China's Tibet Autonomous Region and India's Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC.

"We have taken note of the US Department of Defence's report to US Congress which inter-alia also makes a reference to construction activities by Chinese side along the India-China border areas particularly in the Eastern Sector. Reports had also appeared in the media earlier this year on this issue," Bagchi told reporters.

The diplomat recalled that India has repeatedly pointed to China's construction activities along the border areas, including those illegally occupied, over the past few years.

"India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims. The Government has always conveyed its strong protest to such activities through diplomatic means and will continue to do so in the future," the official said.

The two Asian giants have long been at odds over disputed lands along the LAC, which latter is in lieu of a marked border. A new bout of tensions broke out in May 2020, with a series of clashes between border forces which led to multiple fatalities.

In an attempt to reduce tensions, New Delhi and Beijing launched disengagement consultations in early June 2020, with the first phase of disengagement on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Lake completed this February. The situation once again escalated in September, however, prompting both countries to resume troop deployment near the LAC. China has since repeatedly accused India of provocation, while India has rejected all such claims as groundless.