India to double troops at Sino-Indian Border

Owing to the continuous Chinese incursion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India has decided to double the number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to strengthen patrolling along the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Home Ministry has approved the building of 54 new border outposts in Arunachal Pradesh to secure the border and keep a regular check on the Chinese forces. There are currently only 40 posts along the 1030 km Sino-India border, making patrolling and surveillance in the region extremely difficult. The Ministry has sanctioned one more frontier, comprising 10,000 ITBP troops, divided into eight battalions, to guard the border in the state. It also agreed to sanction 10,000 additional troops as a backup, who will allow the troops to rest and recuperate during duty, taking the total number of reinforcements to 20,000. With this significant move of increasing forces and outposts, the ITBP strength would go to over 30,000 personnel. The process of recruiting and training the personnel is expected to take about two years, during which time infrastructure to sustain them shall be put in place.

According to sources from the Home Ministry, ITBP DG Krishna Chaudhary, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh last week to push for the twin sanctions. While Mr Singh shall expedite the sanction for 10,000 more personnel to guard the border (expected to be passed soon), the issue of 10,000 troops for allowing rest and recuperation of those on duty, may still take time (though the matter been agreed to in principle). ndo-Tibetan Border Police

Author Profile

India Writes Network: India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.