Noida, Oct 23: There were no skirmishes or conflicts between India and China along the border at present, and that it was a “routine patrolling perception”, defence expert Lt General Sanjay Kulkarni (retd) said after the ITBP chief hinted at clashes.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police Director General Shatrujeet Kapur had reportedly remarked on Thursday that face-offs with Chinese troops had occurred at several locations along the border in Arunachal Pradesh in recent days and that the situation was continuing.
Speaking to IANS, Lt Gen Kulkarni (retd) said: “I don’t agree with the DG ITBP’s statement. The LAC border which India shares with China, according to us, is 3,488 km. The Indo-China border is the ITBP’s responsibility. As per India, the shared boundary between India and China, i.e., LAC, is nearly 3,488 km, but to China, it is 2,000 km.”
“Apart from that, our total land border is 15,000 km, and our maritime border is 11,000 km. According to 2004 guidelines, the Group of Ministers had decided, under ‘One Border, One Force’ – that the LAC is under ITBP’s jurisdiction. Now, they come under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Border Affairs,” he said.
“I don’t think any kind of altercation happened, nor was there any kind of confrontation. It would be wrong to say that. It is completely wrong.” “Whatever is happening is a normal patrolling perception… This is a matter of historical legacy; it is a perception. This must have been taken out of context from what the DG might be saying. I don’t think that is right,” Lt Gen Kulkarni (retd) said.
Addressing the ITBP personnel in Rajasthan’s Alwar, DG Kapur said, “In the past few days, a situation arose where face-offs happened at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, and it continues.” According to sources, the comments were taken out of context and were made in the context of routine operational preparedness and force deployment along the frontier and were not linked to any specific incident.
India and China have been working to rebuild relations after reaching an understanding in October 2024 to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh, which had continued for more than four years and severely strained bilateral ties. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India on September 12-13 to attend the BRICS Summit, marking his first visit to the country in seven years. He also held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review relations and discuss ways to improve cooperation.
IANS