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Chinese army constructing bunkers, tunnels at Aksai Chin: Reports

Chinese army constructing bunkers, tunnels at Aksai Chin: Reports

A liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) delivery truck drives along Indias Tezpur-Tawang highway which runs to the Chinese border, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh May 29, 2012. Reuters
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IANS

New Delhi, August 30

Chinese forces are learnt to have ramped up construction of reinforced bunkers and underground tunnels in Aksai Chin, according to reports citing data from satellite imagery.

As per the reports,construction activities are taking place in Aksai Chin, a territory held illegally by China, but historically claimed by India.

The reports further said that Chinese forces have started carving tunnels and shafts alongside a narrow river valley, to construct bunkers and shelters.

The development has come on the heels of China releasing a “standard map” showing parts of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh under its jurisdiction, on Monday.

Reacting to the map, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that “China has put out maps with territories (that are) not theirs. (It is an) old habit.

“Just by putting out maps with parts of India… this doesn’t change anything. Our government is very clear about what our territory is. Making absurd claims does not make other people’s territories yours,” he added.

Also on Tuesday,India lodged a strong protest with China on the release of a so-called “standard map”.

“We have today lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so called 2023 ‘standard map’ of China that lays claim to India’s territory,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

“We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question,” he added.

The release of the map comes just days before the G20 summit, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

Last week during his informal conversation with China’s President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in South Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed New Delhi’s “concerns over unresolved issues along LAC and other areas along the India-China border”.


Chinese map

India needs to be on guard, avoid being provoked

Chinese map

DAYS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has released the country’s ‘2023 edition of the standard map’, which shows the disputed border area of Aksai Chin and the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh within its territory. Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs had claimed that it had ‘standardised’ the names of 11 places in Arunachal, which is called ‘Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet’ by the Chinese.

India has lodged a strong protest with China over the new map. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that it’s an ‘old habit’ of China to make absurd claims on other countries’ territories, while the Congress, the main Opposition party, has stated that China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh are ‘absurd, illogical and historically incorrect’. China’s cartographical move, which appears to be a fresh provocation, is set to cast a shadow on President Xi’s expected visit to India next week for the G20 summit.

New Delhi has been categorical in stating that Arunachal Pradesh has ‘always been and will always be’ an integral part of the country. However, China seems to be in no mood to respect India’s territorial sovereignty. It was Arunachal that had witnessed a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Tawang in December last year. India needs to hold its ground and remain on guard in the face of China’s posturing. Though China has repeatedly proved to be an unreliable neighbour, India has kept all lines of communication open and never shied away from expressing its genuine concerns. The onus is on Beijing to engage in a meaningful dialogue with New Delhi and walk the talk on disengagement and de-escalation in border areas by taking verifiable action on the ground.


If Pension A/C migrated to SPARSH.IMPORTANT-STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:572adb90-d0a7-3fec-af41-4f2f72894dfe

AID-E-MEMOIRE FOR MIGRATION TO SPARSH.pdf (2)

SPARSH Handbook Final 14 Nov 2022

All Those who received msg from the Bank for their Pension A/C migrated to SPARSH. Please wait to receive your User ID & Password from SPARSH and follow these procedures as given below. XXXXXXXXXX

After you get Sparsh user ID and password the procedure detailed step-by-step:-

  1. sparsh.defencepension.gov.in login click
  2. Enter both user name* (14 digit) and password recieved from PCDA (your user name is your sparsh PPO number suffixed by 01, if password is not received go to forgot password option, and key in OTP recieved by regd mobile. You will get initial password) I’m not a robot left side click
  3. Put new password. ( new Password should have Capital letter, small letter, special characters @/#/ &, Numbers). Please koop the user ID / password safely written for future use.
  4. Next Log out .
  5. Again Login using. ( new password.)
  6. Alert screen shall come. Read & click ok .
  7. Acknowledgement (Undertaking of Refund of Excess Payment) will come. Read and click Next .
  8. Acknowledgement (Consent to use of Aadhaar to avail pensionary benefits through SPARSH) will come. I Agree below click Yes & click Next.
  9. Acknowledgement (Consent for receiving notifications on mobile number and email ID) shall come. Read & click ESign Declaration .
  10. Confirmation (You will be redirected to C-DAC website to eSign the declaration) will come. Read & click Ok .
  11. C-DAC scree select Aadhar Number.
  12. Aadhar No enter.
  13. Select Aadhar OTP .
    Declaration Box. Touch and ensure Tick Mark.
    GET OTP.. click.
    Submit click .

Here you shall get OTP 6 digit in registered mobile number of aadhar.
Enter OTP .

Submit click .

  1. We are processing your request, please wait…. .
  2. Once Processing complete
    Acknowledgement shall come. Below that ‘Declarations file esigned successfully’ can be seen.
    Submit click .
  3. Confirmation (Do you wish to submit Declaration?) .
    Ok click .
  4. Acknowledgement (Your data has been submitted successfully…….. You will now be redirected to ‘Track Status’ ……….) .
    Ok click .
  5. Next screen that appears – press ‘Refresh’ . next will come Screen/ information
  6. Log out and log in back again.
  7. In the Screen touch the three Line .
    Next My Profile click .

Next Manage Profile click
details – Update Profile (Personal, Service, Family, Bank, Other, Nominee, Documents) Check and verify all details, you can correct all the errors here then press Next, Next ,…… details and then click update.

(Note – To Amend Data : you shall click
Mark / Symbol in the Action column. Or lt side near Details you shall see a pencil symbol, click and amend / do correction.)
Now you complete Personal Data Verification (PDV) .

  1. Log Out .
  2. You can use the user name and new password password, log in to submit . Life Certificate.

Note:- if you are pre 2016 pensioner you will not be allowed to amend personal data, so 👆sl no 20 will be by-passed. However, SPARSH is in the process of opening up this also shortly.

For migrated pensioners who are unable to view their SPARSH PPOs, the same is under process by SPARSH and will be available once finalised by SPARSH.

Notwithstanding any of the above, PENSION WILL NOT BE STOPPED IF LC HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
HOW TO CHECK SPARSH MIGRATION STATUS

In addition to checking migration status as enunciated at Para 8 of Aide-Memoire,

pensioner can also log in to SPARSH website ,

Go to SERVICES TAB
Go to TRACK
Go to TRACK MIGRATION STATUS or KNOW YOUR SPARSH PPO AND IDENTIFICATION STATUS

Regards
TEAM NAVPEN

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:572adb90-d0a7-3fec-af41-4f2f72894dfe


ECHS Website is working on this link… meanwhile issues with @gov.in are being resolved.

Dear all,

ECHS Website is working on this link… meanwhile issues with @gov.in are being resolved.

https://echs.pctiltd.com

To find the Empaneled hospital go the link given below, select Region on the top and then click “Submit” at the bottom of the page
• https://www.echsbpa.utiitsl.com/ECHS/HospitalCriteria.jsp
• https://www.echsbpa.utiitsl.com/ECHS/HospitalCriteria.jsp

IMPORTANT ADVISORY – ECHS
( BY COL SRIKANTHA)

Just now I got a call from one civilian friend of one of the members of this gp saying he has been brought to an EH in Bangalore ( i am not revealing the details please)
The EH is saying that they do not have a bed so they cannot admit him but will be treated as OPD,& they have to pay.
When I tried to advise them to speak to OIC PC & RC, he is not able to understand nor his wife is in a state of mind to understand. He wants me to speak to Army authorities & sort out the issue.
It is not that i cannot speak to someone & help.
The problem is that the veterans are not able make the NOK understand that they must know & have the contact details of the OIC PC & RC to whom they should contact in such a situation if the EHs are creating such problems.

Firstly the NOK and the family must know the contact details of OIC PC, DIR RC and JD HS of RC, must know the tele phone numbers of the EHs and also the list of EHs both in their mobile and and also in their note book so that they can first call the EH and find out if they are treating the ECHS Card holder and then only take the patient to the EH. the advantge is that the patient’s condition does not deterorate during the journey and waiting at the hospital and the other advantage is that the EHs will know that a patient with a particular ailment is reaching and necessary info can be given to the concerned specialist. During covid many hospitals did not have beds and many veterans have gone around one hospital to another through out the night and few have perished due to travel from home to many EHs. If ther is any problem with the EHs, after reaching there, they must seak to the billing section of the EH who deals with ECHS and he can also give the contact details of the concerned OIC PC and RC. A civilan with out the knowledge of army or ECHS is no use to sort out this issue. all veteran and familes must have the ECHS app in their mobile to take out the contact details in any emergency and be able to understand the procedures and whom to contact in such a situation. Most of the wifes may not like to listen and understad this issue as most of them feel that if they understand about the pension, actions to be taken on demise of the ESM etc the ESM will not live long or he will die very soon. This mind set has to change and they must understand the system and know how to handle. In any case few of us are there to help which is a separate issue.

Col. Srikantha


Chandigarh: Five decades after, Martyr’s Memorial to see light of day

Second part of the facility at Capitol Complex to be completed by March next year

Chandigarh: Five decades after, Martyr’s Memorial to see light of day

n a significant development that marks the culmination of nearly five-decade wait, the UT Administration has finally decided to carry out the completion work of the Martyr’s Memorial at the iconic Capitol Complex here.
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Tribune News Service

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, August 30

In a significant development that marks the culmination of nearly five-decade wait, the UT Administration has finally decided to carry out the completion work of the Martyr’s Memorial at the iconic Capitol Complex here.

Dedicated to Partition martyrs

The memorial is dedicated to the unknown martyrs who lost their lives during India’s Partition in 1947.

Work started in 1973

The construction of the memorial was divided into two parts. Sculptor Sanko Chaudhuri started the project in 1973, but only the first part was completed and the second part was left unfinished.

The UT Engineering Department has initiated the process by floating tenders for the installation of stone artwork, with an estimated cost of Rs 3.50 crore. Originally envisioned by renowned Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, this memorial is slated to be completed by March next year.

The memorial is dedicated to the unknown martyrs who lost their lives during India’s Partition in 1947. The memorial’s design comprises a square enclosure adorned with abstract Indian symbols, capturing the essence of the nation’s struggle for Independence. One facet of this enclosure extends into a ramp, which, when ascended, offers an elevated view of the magnificent structures within the Capitol Complex.

This artistic composition not only embodies the sacrifice of a martyr during their final moments of agony but also features two fragments of a shattered column surrounded by debris. These fragments poignantly symbolise the decline of the British Empire.

The construction of the memorial was divided into two parts. Sculptor Sanko Chaudhuri started the project in 1973, but only the first part was completed and the second part was left unfinished.

An official of the Engineering Department said tenders had been invited to carry out completion of the Martyr’s Memorial’s stone artwork. It will also include the restoration, preservation, conservation and management of the Capitol Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

During the quest for the UNESCO heritage tag for the Capitol Complex, the UT Administration had submitted to complete the project and subsequently, the complex received the UNESCO heritage tag in 2016. However, the memorial still remained incomplete. The Chandigarh Master Plan-2031 also mentions that the memorial remains incomplete within the Capitol Complex.


Don’t overinterpret a routine practice: China on map issue

Don’t overinterpret a routine practice: China on map issue

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

China has defended its release of a new “standard map” for 2023 that shows Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of its territory, and asked India to “stay objective and calm” and not indulge in “overinterpreting” the issue.

The Foreign Office had on Tuesday lodged a strong diplomatic protest and said such steps only complicated the resolution of the boundary question. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said: “Making absurd claims doesn’t make others’ territories yours.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that “on August 23, the Ministry of National Resources of China released the 2023 edition of the standard map”. “It is a routine practice in China’s exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law. We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from overinterpreting the issue,” he added when asked by a Beijing-controlled media house about his reaction to India’s diplomatic protest.


India-made Mahendragiri warship to be launched in Mumbai tomorrow

India-made Mahendragiri warship to be launched in Mumbai tomorrow

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

Mahendragiri, the last of the seven warships of the Nilgiri-class stealth frigates, will be launched on September 1.

Commissioning between 2025 & 2027

  • So far, six Nilgiri-class warships have been launched
  • Nilgiri and Himgiri were launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively
  • The launch of Udaygiri, Dunagiri, Taragiri and Vindhyagiri began in May 2022
  • All Nilgiri-class ships are scheduled to be commissioned between 2025 and 2027

Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, wife of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, will do the honours at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai. So far, six Nilgiri-class warships have been launched. Nilgiri and Himgiri were launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Udaygiri, Dunagiri, Taragiri and Vindhyagiri have been launched since May 2022. The launch of the seventh and last ship — Mahendragiri — will mean five launches of the same class warships in about 15 months. All Nilgiri-class ships are scheduled to be commissioned between 2025 and 2027.

Frigate features

Displacement: 6,670 tonne

Length: 149 metres

Width: 17.8 metres

Draft: 5.22 metres

Speed: 28 knots

Range: 10,200 kms

Crew: 226 sailors

Engines: 2 General Electric LM2500

The speed of manufacturing warships has improved ever since the new method of “integrated construction” has been adopted. Mahendragiri is named after a mountain peak in Eastern Ghats located in Odisha.

Three Nilgiri-class warships are a follow-up of Shivalik-class frigates but with vastly improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.

The Nilgiri warships are built with new radar-absorbing coatings, composite materials and shape superstructures that avoid radar detection. Mahendragiri will have a 76mm main gun, two 30 mm AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery systems, two torpedo tubes, launchers for eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and 32 Barak-8 surface to air missiles. Its main radar will be MF-STAR.

The Nilgiri-class warships have been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau, the pioneer organisation for all warship design activities. A substantial 75 per cent of the orders for equipment and systems of the Nilgiri class have been made to indigenous firms, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Four of Nilgiri-class warships are under construction at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai, and three at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata. Both shipbuilders are public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Defence.


Mutinous soldiers in Gabon say they have ousted president whose family has ruled for 55 years

Mutinous soldiers in Gabon say they have ousted president whose family has ruled for 55 years

Libreville (Gabon), August 30

Mutinous soldiers claimed to have seized power in Gabon on Wednesday and put the president under house arrest, hours after he was declared the winner in an election that extended his family’s 55-year reign in the oil-rich Central African nation.

In his first public appearance since the coup attempt, President Ali Bongo Ondimba called on people to “make noise” to support him. But crowds instead took to the streets of the capital and sang the national anthem, apparently to celebrate his potential ouster.

Bongo’s family has been accused of getting rich on the country’s resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle to scrape by. The coup attempt came hours after he was declared winner of an election criticised by international observers.

Within minutes of the announcement, gunfire was heard in the centre of the capital, Libreville. Later, a dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television and announced that they had seized power.

Crowds took to the city’s streets to celebrate the end of Bongo’s reign, singing the national anthem with soldiers.

“Thank you, army. Finally, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” said Yollande Okomo, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon’s elite republican guard.

Shopkeeper Viviane Mbou offered the soldiers juice, which they declined.

“Long live our army,” said Jordy Dikaba, a young man walking with his friends on a street lined with armoured policemen.

Later, Bongo pleaded for support, appearing in a video showing him sat in a chair with a book shelf behind him. He said he was in his residence and his wife and son were in different places.

“I’m calling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really,” he said. The video was shared with The Associated Press by BTP Advisers. A communications firm that helped the president with polling for this election     There’s been widespread discontent with the Bongo family for years and a coup attempt is not surprising, said Maja Bovcon Africa, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk assessment firm. But she said more immediate inspiration likely came from a recent spate of coups in the Sahel, where military officers have shown that they can seize power without repercussions.

Gabon’s coup leaders can also play to doubts about the electoral process, Africa, the analyst, said. The vote was not transparent and practically held behind closed doors, she said.

Every vote held in Gabon since the country’s return to a multi-party system in 1990 has ended in violence. Clashes between government forces and protesters following the 2016 election killed four people, according to official figures. The opposition said the death toll was far higher.

“Gabon’s electoral laws and framework do not ensure credible elections,” Freedom House said in its 2023 country assessment.

The soldiers who claimed power Wednesday planned to “dissolve all institutions of the republic,” said a spokesman for the group. He said that Bongo’s “unpredictable, irresponsible governance” risked leading the country into chaos.

Gabon is a member of the OPEC oil cartel, with a production of some 181,000 barrels of crude a day, but its over 2 million people face high unemployment and rising prices. Nearly 40% of Gabonese ages 15-24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank.

Several French companies said they were suspending operations and moving to ensure the safety of their staff, and a man who answered the phone at the airport said flights were cancelled Wednesday. The private intelligence firm Ambrey said all operations at the country’s main port in Libreville had been halted, with authorities refusing to grant permission for vessels to leave.

A second statement by the coup leaders, who came from the gendarme, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces, said the president was under house arrest in his residence, surrounded by family and doctors.

People around him have been arrested for “high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds (and) international financial embezzlement” said the military, among other charges.

There has been no word from the president.

Several members of the Bongo family are under investigation in France, and some have been given preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to French media reports.

The coup attempt came about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former colonizer.

Gabon’s coup, if successful would bring the number of coups in West and Central Africa to eight since 2020.

Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable.

In his annual Independence Day speech on Aug 17, Bongo said, “While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilisation. Never.”  

At a time when anti-France sentiment is spreading in many former colonies, the French-educated Bongo met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in late June and shared photos of them shaking hands.

 The mutinous officers vowed to respect “Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community.”    

France has 400 soldiers in Gabon leading a regional military training operation. They’ve not changed their normal operations today, according to the French military.

French government spokesperson, Olivier Veran, said Wednesday: “France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments in the country, and France reaffirms its wish that the outcome of the election, once known, be respected.”     

When asked about Gabon Wednesday, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell said it would be discussed by EU ministers this week. Defense ministers from the 27-nation bloc are meeting in Spain on Wednesday, and foreign ministers on Thursday. Borrell will chair both meetings, and Niger will also be a focus.

“If this is confirmed, it’s another military coup, which increases instability in the whole region,” he said.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, said Wednesday that China was closely following Gabon’s situation and called on the parties to resolve the issue peacefully, keeping in mind the interests of the nation and its people.

Bongo has served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in January 2019, while Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, but was quickly overpowered.

Bongo faced an opposition coalition led by economics professor and former education minister Albert Ondo Ossa, whose surprise nomination came a week before the vote.

Reached Wednesday, Ossa said he wasn’t ready to comment on the attempted coup and was waiting for the situation to evolve.

After the vote, the Central African nation’s Communications Minister, Rodrigue Mboumba Bissawou, announced a nightly curfew from 7 pm to 6 am, and said internet access was being restricted indefinitely to quell disinformation and calls for violence.

NetBlocks, an organisation tracking internet access worldwide, said internet service saw a “partial restoration” in Gabon after the coup. AP


Old habit: S Jaishankar on China including Arunachal in its map

India lodges strong diplomatic protest

Old habit: S Jaishankar on China including Arunachal in its map

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 29

India has dismissed a new map put out by China that claims Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as its territory, besides huge chunks of South China Sea and Taiwan.

3rd attempt in 5 yrs

  • China has included Taiwan and South China Sea in map
  • It’s the third such map — earlier two issued in 2018, 2021
  • Beijing has extended the same treatment to Russia, one of its closest partners

“Putting out a map doesn’t mean anything. The territories belong to India. This government is very clear about its territories. Absurd claims won’t make others’ territories yours,” said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on China officially releasing the “2023 edition of China’s standard map”.

“India has lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on its map that lays claim to India’s territory,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

China occupied Arunachal and Aksai Chin in the 1962 war. Jaishankar, in an indirect reference to the “nine-dash-line that claims nearly the entire South China Sea as Beijing’s territory, said “it’s an old habit of theirs”.

Beijing claims Taiwan its part and its integration with the mainland is part of a “vowed objective” of President Xi Jinping. The Chinese claims over the South China Sea are contested by a host of nations, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The 2023 map was released on Monday and its launch was highlighted on western social media platforms by the Beijing-controlled ‘Global Times’ which, it said, had been launched on the website of the “standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources”. In April, New Delhi had rejected China “renaming” several locations in Arunachal. This was the third attempt after two previous ones in 2018 and 2021.

Ironically, China has extended the same treatment to Russia, which it claims is one of its closest partners. The Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources in March this year renamed eight Russian cities and territories.

DAYS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has released the country’s ‘2023 edition of the standard map’, which shows the disputed border area of Aksai Chin and the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh within its territory. Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs had claimed that it had ‘standardised’ the names of 11 places in Arunachal, which is called ‘Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet’ by the Chinese.

India has lodged a strong protest with China over the new map. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that it’s an ‘old habit’ of China to make absurd claims on other countries’ territories, while the Congress, the main Opposition party, has stated that China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh are ‘absurd, illogical and historically incorrect’. China’s cartographical move, which appears to be a fresh provocation, is set to cast a shadow on President Xi’s expected visit to India next week for the G20 summit.

New Delhi has been categorical in stating that Arunachal Pradesh has ‘always been and will always be’ an integral part of the country. However, China seems to be in no mood to respect India’s territorial sovereignty. It was Arunachal that had witnessed a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Tawang in December last year. India needs to hold its ground and remain on guard in the face of China’s posturing. Though China has repeatedly proved to be an unreliable neighbour, India has kept all lines of communication open and never shied away from expressing its genuine concerns. The onus is on Beijing to engage in a meaningful dialogue with New Delhi and walk the talk on disengagement and de-escalation in border areas by taking verifiable action on the ground.