The Ministry of External Affairs said on October 23 that the India-China border situation gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns, a day after the ITBP director general said face-offs were continuing at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh.
The two statements differ in tone. The ITBP chief spoke of recent and continuing face-offs and of preparing personnel for battles similar to the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, while the MEA stressed existing mechanisms, peace and tranquillity, and an agreement to discuss ways to improve understanding of the Line of Actual Control.
Operational details were left to the Ministry of Defence, and the reports carried no response from China. One report says Congress wants the Prime Minister to explain the situation to Parliament, which other reports did not mention.
What happens next will depend on those talks and on any further statements from the two governments.
The chief also highlighted drone platoons for border units and a new training course to prepare personnel for battles similar to the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, according to the same report.
Some reports quote the ITBP chief as saying that conventional warfare is no longer sufficient to counter China.
Jaiswal said that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the development of bilateral relations, according to Business Standard.
Jaiswal said India and China continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control, according to the same report.
The two sides have agreed to discuss ways to improve their understanding of the Line of Actual Control in appropriate areas for better border management, according to the reports.
No timeline or concrete measures for those discussions were given in the reports.
On operational details of the face-offs, the spokesperson referred questions to the Ministry of Defence, according to Apnlive.
Map of the Yangtse-Tawang area, Arunachal Pradesh (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0