The Govt, Opposition trade barbs over reports of a village having come up in a disputed area of Arunachal Pradesh

Even as India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over eight months, and both the countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic dialogue in order to resolve the standoff but without making any significant headway, reports have emerged that China has built a village comprising 120 houses five km inside the disputed territory in Arunachal Pradesh. The provocative development, which ostensibly pertains to November last year, was detected by satellite images taken by Planet Labs. This is the same area where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had detained five locals last year. The village is on the banks of the Tsari Chu river in the Upper Subansiri district and China has all along disputed India’s ownership claim over the area. It is feared that China wants to maintain pressure on India by opening several fronts along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC), stretching from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The development has understandably rung alarm bells in India’s security establishment and the Opposition has also rolled up its sleeves to take on the Government. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of national security after the development was reported. “Remember his promise — ‘Mai desh jhukne nahi dunga’,” Rahul wrote on Twitter. Randeep Surjewala, another Congress leader, also slammed the Prime Minister, asking: “…Where is the ‘56-inch chest’?” Returning the fire, BJP president JP Nadda said that the scion, his party and family had repeatedly lied on the issue of China: “When will Rahul Gandhi, his dynasty and the Congress stop lying on China? Can he deny that thousands of km, including the one in Arunachal Pradesh he is referring to, was gifted by none other than Nehru to the Chinese? Time and again, why does Congress surrender to China?” The BJP chief added: “Does Rahul Gandhi have any intention to cancel the Congress party’s MoU with China and their Communist Party? Does he intend to return the Chinese largesse to trusts controlled by his family? Or will their policies and practices continue to be dictated by Chinese money and MoU?”

For its part, the Government has “taken note of the construction” along the border and ramped up its infrastructure development projects. The Indian security establishment maintains that the coming up of this village is in violation of several agreements between the countries. The pacts clearly say both countries to “safeguard due interests of their settled population in the border areas” and “strictly respect and observe the LAC”. This piece of land was apparently under Chinese occupation since 1965 but, as disputed territory, no country should change the status quo as per international law. “If this is true, it is clear that the Chinese have altered the status quo by converting a disputed area into a permanent settlement of Chinese nationals. What does the Government have to say about these startling facts?” Congress leader P Chidambaram said. If the Government’s claim that it is Indian territory is correct, it should unequivocally take up the matter with Beijing and get the settlement removed. Earlier on June 15-16, 2020, Indian and Chinese troops had clashed on the Galwan valley ridges at a height of nearly 14,000 ft; at least 76 Indian soldiers were reportedly injured in addition to the 20 dead. Indian intercepts also revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties.