High alert along India-China border in Uttarakhand

Indian security forces were on high alert on the vast India-China border amid reports of fresh Chinese incursions into Uttarakhand.

The reports of incursions came from border areas of Rimkhim and Barahoti in Chamoli district with a worried Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deploy more troops along the long, porous borders with Tibet, which had not reported any major incident since the 1962 conflict.

Pokhriyal added that the state government had urged the Centre to set up a specialised mountain force in Uttarakhand keeping in view its 370-km-long border with China. Last month also,

the chief minister had demanded a similar force from the Centre.

On the other hand, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said its personnel were on high alert along the border, but denied reports that the Chinese army had made any incursions into the Indian border. DIG Sanjay Singhal said the ITBP personnel had not sighted any movement of Chinese troops along the border.

However, Singhal said some civilians, mostly shepherds, from China came into the Indian side during the monsoon season, which he said was not an “unusual” thing on the Uttarakhand-Tibet border, particularly in the Barahoti area in Chamoli district.

Meanwhile, the army has also been put on alert on the border particularly along the snow-clad mountains of Chamoli district.

India recently accused Chinese troops of entering into its territory in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.