At least 3 more enclaves have been added to a village in the area. High resolution: here and here
New Delhi:
China has built at least 3 villages, approximately 5 kilometers from the Bum La Pass, which is located near the triple junction between India, China and Bhutan in western Arunachal Pradesh.
Beijing disputes the border between India and China in this region and the new construction here could be a significant step in strengthening its territorial claims along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
“China has been using a strategy of stationing Han Chinese and Tibetan members of the Communist Party along the border with India to strengthen their territorial claims and increase border encroachments,” says China Observer Dr. Brahma Chellaney. In the South China Sea, China uses civilian resources – pastoralists and herders – as a spearhead to intrude on the Himalayan areas patrolled by India. “
The new satellite images featured in this report come a week after high-resolution satellite images emerged of the construction of a Chinese village in the sovereign territory of Bhutan, just seven kilometers from the site of Doklam clash between the forces. Indians and Chinese in 2017.
The images show the construction of Chinese villages / enclaves in February 2020 and November 2020.
The villages shown in this report are located within Chinese territory and were being built at the same time that Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed in eastern Ladakh, in the worst crisis the two nations have faced since the 1962 war. That confrontation continues with tens of thousands of soldiers crouching for a long deployment during the intense winter after eight rounds of military talks failed to make a breakthrough.
Following the reports previously shared by Chinese Media & @VishnuNDTVthe story of #Bhutan, Bumla Pass images #ArunchalPradesh#India now present evidence of new villages / lodgings built by #China this year, possibly for the relocation of citizens to strengthen weak border areas https://t.co/HYPedVEWpLpic.twitter.com/aPjYrm8oPD
– d-atis☠️ (@detresfa_) December 6, 2020
The images presented in this report, acquired from Planet Labs, show that a single town was built in the area as of February 17, 2020. It features more than 20 structures, believed to be chalets, that can be easily distinguished by its red roofs. The second image, dated November 28, 2020, shows the addition of three additional sites with at least 50 structures. NDTV is aware of the presence of at least one more enclave in this area with 10 structures. Each enclave is one kilometer from each other. All the enclaves are connected with paved roads for all weather.
At least 3 more enclaves (towns) have been added to an already built town in the area by February 2020.
China disputes the legal status of the boundary in this region and Chinese maps continue to show 65,000 square kilometers of territory south of the line as part of the Beijing South Tibet Region. India, which has rejected Beijing’s claim for decades, insists that the McMohan historical line proposed by British administrator Sir Henry McMohan at the 1914 Simla Convention defines the boundary here.
In September 2017, the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat, then Chief of the Army, had warned of China’s efforts to “cut the salami” in Indian territory. “Until [the] The northern opponent is worried, the flexing of the muscles has begun. Slicing salami, taking over the territory in a very gradual way, testing our threshold limits is something we have to be careful of, ” the General had warned.
This is precisely what has been happening on the Sino-Indian border: in Doklam (near Sikkim) in 2017, in eastern Ladakh this year, and potentially near the triple junction in western Arunachal Pradesh, as pictures indicate. of this report.
Map showing the location of the new Chinese enclaves near the border of Bum La, which is located near the triple junction between India, China and Bhutan. High resolution: here
Significantly, construction through the Bum La pass is exactly what the Chinese government spokesperson, Global Times, identified in a detailed report in August that looked at infrastructure construction in Shannan prefecture, which borders Arunachal Pradesh. “For residents who establish a house near the border line, shepherding is patrolling and living is protecting the border,” the report says. The new villages are a stark contrast to the villagers’ homes in the past. “The new houses have water, electricity and Internet access.” Significantly, Cona, a crucial border county in Shannan that shares a 213 kilometer boundary with India, plans to “relocate 3,222 people from 960 families to the loosely controlled areas of the borders.” voluntarily “.
The party’s undersecretary, who is the head of Cona county, is quoted in the Global Times article as saying, “The areas controlled by India are a mountain away.”
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