By Kaveesha Fernando
ITANAGAR, India (CWBN)_ In the latest development in India-China tensions, it appears that China has established several villages right on the India-China border. Observers see the move as extremely strategic on the part of China: another attempt to gain ground in border standoffs between the two regional giants.
Satellite imagery shows at least three new villages near Bum La Pass, a border pass located between Cona County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tawang District in Arunachal Pradesh. The villages are also very close to the border between India and Bhutan.
Chinese expert and Professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi Dr Brahma Chellaney feels that the move is in line with China’s usual strategy of using civilians as resources in border conflicts. He stated that China has been settling Han Chinese and Tibetan members of the Communist Party along the India border to strengthen its territorial claims and escalate border intrusions. “Like it used fishermen in the South China Sea, China uses civilian resources – herders and grazers – as the tip of the spear to intrude into Indian-patrolled Himalayan areas,” he says.
Fierce tensions have risen between India and China in the recent past, a lot of it surrounding the Indian region of Ladakh, which is located further north of Arunachal Pradesh. India has taken the fight to the virtual sphere – banning Chinese apps and initiating a crackdown on popular international websites and social media platforms where maps (or geotagging) which depict Indian Territory as being part of China were present.
