In a big push to security infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Centre has approved seven new battalions for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Sources told CNN-News18 that a cabinet committee on security met on Wednesday and approved raising of seven new battalions for ITBP and an additional sectoral headquarters for supervision. “This will be established by 2025-26,” officials told CNN-News18.
The move will majorly help Arunachal Pradesh and the patrolling of LAC from Tawang to Dibang. “This entire area is inhospitable. There were no border outposts (BOP) or halting stations for long stretches. Patrolling such a long distance puts severe strain on personnel. The new battalions will enable setting up of new BOPs and staging camps,” an official in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) explained.
In 2020, the cabinet had approved setting up of 47 new BOPs and 12 staging camps. The new battalions, which will be raised year-on-year till 2026, will provide manpower to handle the BOPs and the staging camps. The halting stations will have infrastructure to aid night halt of patrolling troops. A total of 9,400 personnel and officers will be recruited over the next three years for the seven new battalions and the sectoral headquarters.
The new infrastructure has been approved at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore. Officials said the money will be used to build office and residential buildings, land acquisition, purchase of arms and ammunition and non-recurring expenditure. An additional Rs 963 crore has been set aside for recurring expenses such as salary and ration of the new recruits.
The new battalion would raise the strength of ITBP, which is tasked with manning the LAC from Ladakh to Arunachal, to 98,000 personnel. This would make ITBP the fourth largest paramilitary force after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). So far, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) holds the fourth rank.
THE CLASHES
The Indian Army on December 12, 2022 said Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the LAC in Tawang sector on December 9 and the face-off resulted in “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides”. This was the first such incident since the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in Ladakh between the two neighbours in June 2020.
In October 2021, a large Chinese patrol had attempted to transgress the LAC at Yangtse, leading to a major face-off between the two sides. It was followed by a temporary detention of Chinese troops in the area.
In June 2020, as many as 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La in 1967. The PLA had pitched tents and an observation post on India’s side of the LAC but after an agreement, they agreed to withdraw. However, things got heated on the night of June 15, leading to a five-hour-long confrontation. Twenty Indian soldiers, including Colonel Suresh Babu, commander of 16 Bihar, lost their lives in the stand-off.
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