After Chinese pullout, India to step up security along borders

After the pullout by Chinese troops from Daulat beg Oldi area of Ladakh, infrastructure development programme along the Line of Actual Control is expected to be stepped up besides beefing up of the presence of Indian army there.

Frequency of patrolling along the LAC is also expected to be enhanced as per the new measures being contemplated by the government, sources said in New Delhi on Monday.

The government is also planning to give final clearance to a Rs 84,000-crore army proposal for raising the Mountain Strike Corps along the northeastern borders which will include deployment of the Indian Air Force assets as per army's plans, they said.

The force has been working on capability development in the north and northeastern sector of the country in wake of the major modernisation of military infrastructure by China.

Meanwhile, sources said there is a possibility of India re-adjusting its deployment plans in the Chumar area of Jammu and Kashmir, where Indian troops are in an advantageous positions and can look deep into the Chinese territory.

China has been demanding in the flag meetings that India should dismantle its infrastructure built there including some key forward bunkers, where Indian Army had moved in recent times. However, it is not clear as to what extent India agreed to its demands.

The Indian positions in Chumar, sources said, give India the capability to keep an eye on China's all-important Western Highway. The Chinese have been carrying out incursions and transgressions into the Chumar area considering its location and the Indian positions there, they said.

Image: An Indian soldier patrols along the border in Jammu and Kashmir  | Photograph: Reuters