China has surreptitiously undertaken a major upgrade of military infrastructure in the central, Sikkim, and eastern sectors with the simultaneous strengthening of surface-to-air missile sites, an increase in the number of unmanned aerial vehicles, and an expansion of air bases in Tibet, while the world’s attention has been focused on Beijing’s hostile movements in the royal line of control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and its tense standoff with India, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the Hindustan Times has already reported on the surge in PLA forces in East Ladakh, something that reduces the chances of the status quo ante being restored at sticking points, Indian military commanders are concerned about the build-up across LAC, from the Kaurik Pass in Himachal Pradesh. to Fish Tail I and II in Arunachal Pradesh.
Military commanders and national security planners who spoke on condition of anonymity said that during the past month they noticed that the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) was involved in road construction in the village of Churup, just across the pass from Kaurik, in the central sector, and that he had installed new container housing. modules around Tunjum La, north of the disputed Barahoti Plains in Uttarakhand, just 4 km from the 565 km of LAC in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
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Shiquanhe, a garrison depot 82 km from Demchok LAC with Gar Gunsa Airport, has become a hub for the relocation of troops and heavy equipment from Beijing. Shiquanhe’s position is such that it can serve as the main depot for logistics supplies from Demchok to the Barahoti plains, Indian military planners said.
The situation in the eastern sector is no different, with an electronic warfare unit deployed in Nyanglu, 60 km from the Arunachal Pradesh border, in a former 1962 PLA war camp. This unit is a strategic support force with four counterspace jammers, possibly targeting Indian GSAT communication and commercial satellites, military planners said.
India has also noted troop redeployment in Yebi with increased surveillance from the PLA in Bum La. PLA intelligence and surveillance activity has increased throughout the 3,488 km of LAC with a specific focus on Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the Galwan sector in East Ladakh. added military planners. Evidence of this heightened surveillance comes in the form of the construction of communication towers in Changmu, 27 km from LAC and north of Sebu La in Sikkim.
The India (Sikkim) -Bhutan-China trijunction saw the 73-day clash between Doklam in 2017.
The Chinese have also accelerated the strengthening of the depth areas with new missile carrier erector launchers seen at the surface-to-air missile site at Kashgar Air Base, 475 kilometers from the western sector of LAC, military commanders said. Indians. Kashgar and Hotan bases are patrolling the skies in Aksai Chin and both military bases show the presence of heavy transport aircraft. There have been new shelters of troops and equipment under camouflage nets reported from Kangxiwar, 112 km from LAC via the Karakoram pass.
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The number of military UAVs has increased at the Hoping Air Base in Shigatse, opposite the Sikkim sector, and the military logistics capacity has increased at the Lhasa Air Base. The massive surveillance, communications and road upgrade throughout LAC indicates that the PLA could open up other fronts in LAC if the worst-case scenario materializes in East Ladakh. In the wake of this, India’s national security planners are closely monitoring the movement of military dialogue between the two armies while keeping troops on high alert even in the central and eastern sectors.
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