China transgressed Arunachal’s border twice last month: Rijiju

Pasighat, August 19 

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today said the Chinese army had transgressed the border of Arunachal Pradesh twice last month, but these could not be described as incursion.

“We cannot term it incursion, but transgression, as the Chinese army just crossed the perceived area along the Line of Actual Control,” he told reporters here after inaugurating the Pasighat Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in the northeastern state.

Rijiju said one incident was reported from the Kibithu area in remote Anjaw district on July 22 and another at Thangsa in Tawang district during the month.

He said when the matter was reported from Kibithu by the ITBP, the Centre verified it and found that it was only an act of transgression.

The ALG will allow fighter aircraft such as Su-30 MKI to land and take off, in a major fillip to the country’s military capabilities along its border with China.

On the government’s efforts to match China’s infrastructure development across the border, Rijiju said the Centre had already started strengthening the infrastructure and the ALG at Pasighat was a step in this direction.

“We are not challenging or competing with any other country by strengthening our border infrastructure. We will have to build robust infrastructure to strengthen our defence and whatever we have done is because India is an emerging power with capability. So, the IAF should have operational bases in all bordering states,” he said.

On the proposed ALG at Tawang, he said an area had been identified between Tawang and Lumla at an altitude of 11,000 feet and the  terrain was challenging. — PTI