Make Mandarin must for troops, ITBP instructed

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 18

In view of the ongoing skirmish with the Chinese forces on the borders and also to counter their clever tactics time and again, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the ITBP, which guards India’s borders with China, to make its troops posted on the forward line proficient in Mandarin, the language, which is spoken by majority in the neighbouring country.

Sources in the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) said, at a time when the deployment of the force’s personnel along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has increased manifold in view of the ongoing border tension “we have been asked to improve our personnel’s language skills to better manoeuver the moves made by the forces on the other side of the border”.  

As part of the exercise, ITBP top leadership has asked its official at its training academy in Mussoorie to work out an advanced course in Mandarin. “We already have a preliminary language course in Chinese, which is offered to a limited number of personnel. But now we have asked the academy to work out an advance course, so that our troopers deployed at LAC become proficient both in speaking and writing,” said a senior official, adding that the aim is to make the entire force with a strength of 90,000 to learn the language as per their requirement.  

“Earlier, the Chinese language programme was there, but now the course is being developed in a more planned manner. Every officer and jawan has to complete the course, which will include basic learning and refresher courses,” said the official.

Even the Army personnel will be taught Chinese language at the ITBP facility in Mussoorie, where the work is in progress to revamp the curriculum, as the focus would be more on audio and video sessions, the officials said.

Currently on the borders, ITBP jawans use a very few Chinese expressions like “Ni Hao”, which means “Namaskar” and “Hui Ku”, which means “Go back”, but soon the troopers will be using banners written in Mandarin and will be able to better communicate with their counterparts on the other side of the border.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.