India on Thursday said that it has never accepted construction activities undertaken by China along the border areas, adding that New Delhi has stepped up creation of border infrastructure, including roads, bridges. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made these remarks during a press briefing, in response to a question on the Pentagon report that mentioned a village was built illegally in Arunachal Pradesh. “China has undertaken construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has illegally occupied over decades. India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims,” Bagchi said.
Bagchi said that India has always conveyed strong protest to such construction activities through diplomatic means and will continue to do so in the future. “The government has also stepped up border infrastructure, including the construction of roads, bridges which have provided much-needed connectivity to the local population along the border,” the MEA spokesperson said. He further added the government is committed to the objective of creating infrastructure along with border areas for improvement of livelihood, including in Arunachal Pradesh. “The government keeps a constant watch on developments having bearing on India’s security and takes all measures to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the MEA said.
Earlier this week, sources in the Indian security establishment had clarified that a “large 100-home civilian village” mentioned in a Pentagon report was built over the years in the area in Arunanchal Pradesh that was occupied by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after overrunning an Assam Rifles post in 1959. The sources said that the village is along the disputed border in Upper Subansiri district in Arunanchal Pradesh which is in territory controlled by China. “The village has been built by China in an area that was occupied by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after overrunning an Assam Rifles post in 1959, in an operation known as Longju incident along the frontier in Arunachal Pradesh,” the sources said. “For years, they have maintained an Army post in the region and various constructions undertaken by Chinese haven’t happened in a short time,” the sources had said.
Also on Thursday, India emphasised “unimpeded and unhindered access” for humanitarian assistance providers in Afghanistan to help its citizens who are facing deteriorating socio-economic situation. Bagchi said “the very serious humanitarian situation” in Afghanistan was discussed at length at the NSA-level meeting hosted by India on Wednesday. He said India has been participating in meetings over how to address humanitarian concerns in Afghanistan. National Security Advisers or Secretaries of the Security Council of five Central Asian countries—Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan besides Russia and Iran—attended the security dialogue and adopted the Delhi declaration. The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan was chaired by NSA Ajit Doval. Bagchi said there have been difficulties due to “lack of unimpeded access” for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
India on Thursday also took a dig at Pakistan for not attending Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, stating that skipping such an important meeting shows its approach towards issues concerning Afghanistan. Bagchi said: “We had also invited Pakistan. Skipping such an important meeting shows their attitude towards the issues concerning Afghanistan.” Neither Pakistan, nor China attended the meeting.