Despite New Delhi's predominantly strained relations with the northern neighbour, that's the perception of ITBP chief RK Bhatia
Despite New Delhi's predominantly strained relations with the northern neighbour, that's the perception of ITBP chief RK Bhatia
Hindi-Chini may be bhai-bhai no more but they certainly can be on friendly terms. At least that's the inference one can draw from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief RK Bhatia's statement. Speaking at the 49th Raising Day of the force on Thursday, Bhatia termed the India-China border "friendly" and said there were "no hostilities" in the area. 
"I am completely ruling out any hostilities....there are no unfriendly activities... to our notice there is no infiltration," Bhatia told reporters during an interaction at the force headquarters in Delhi, when asked if he was ruling out any intrusions along the frontier.
The Director General of ITBP, however, stressed on the fact that the force needs more men and equipment. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has at present deployed about 19 battalions (19,000 men) at the 3,488 km long border, which Bhatia said had "certain patches" where the distance between two border posts is nearly 100 kilometres.
He said the Sino-Indian border is termed "friendly" by the government and he would go by that definition.
"We would not say that any such activity is there which, as I have termed it, this term is not mine this term is an accepted term, by the government, that it is a friendly border. So as a friendly border if you do not have any activities like the hostilities you see from the other borders... I will not call any kind of this thing," Bhatia said.
"The point is there is no demarcation on this border. There are no border pillars on this border and there is no boundary on this border. We are guarding a friendly border, they amount to unfriendly activities," he added.
Bhatia also said that a huge restructuring plan for the force, which includes bolstering men and material along the Sino-Indian border, is under "positive and active consideration" of the government.
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The plan, once approved, will reduce the average gaps of about 20-25 kilometres with certain patches of 100 kilometres along the border and troops will undertake effective patrols.
| Matter Of Opration |
| Inaugurating a seminar on Indian Army:u00a0 Emerging Roles and Tasks a few days ago, the Indian Army Chief, VK Singh had referred to the threat posed by China which was rising both economically and militarily. "Although we have a very stable border, yet we have a border dispute. And, therefore, the intentions need to be looked at along with this additional capability that is coming out," he said. |
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