- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
MORE evidence has surfaced about China building villages in disputed parts of its borders with southern neighbours India and Bhutan, an activity that many believe is part of Beijing’s efforts to boost its claim on these regions.
As per a satellite imagery posted on Twitter by one who uses the handle @detresfa_, the Chinese have set up at least four new villages nearly three to four kilometres within the disputed territory along the border with Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan state sandwiched between India and China.
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Disputed land between #Bhutan & #China near Doklam shows construction activity between 2020-21, multiple new villages spread through an area roughly 100 km² now dot the landscape, is this part of a new agreement or enforcement of #China's territorial claims ? pic.twitter.com/9m1n5zCAt4
— d-atis☠️ (@detresfa_) November 17, 2021
Indian daily Hindustan Times reported that these villages are located in an area of about 100 square kilometres that are under Chinese occupation and not too far from Doklam, a zone which made the headlines in 2017 after Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a faceoff that lasted 73 days.
While satellite imagery of the area in focus from May last year showed no sign of construction activity within the disputed region, that taken this month revealed construction work underway in four villages.
While the satellite imagery showed several rows of houses and new roads at all the four villages, two of the villages were found to be larger than the others and all of them are located in high terrain, the report added.
Satellite imagery obtained by Indian news channel NDTV from Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs, two leading imagery providers, also confirmed a village with at least 60 buildings built by China in disputed territory along the border in Shi-Yomi district of India’s Arunachal Pradesh.
It is the second such village in a disputed region of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as “south Tibet”. It is located 93 kilometres east of the first village with some 100 houses, about which the media reported in January.
Experts said the second village falls within India’s territorial claims.
A report submitted earlier this month by the US department of defence to the US Congress said China had built the large 100-house village in disputed territory between the Tibet Autonomous Region and Arunachal Pradesh.
India’s external affairs ministry responded to the US report last week saying New Delhi has never accepted such “illegal occupation” of its territory and will take all measures to safeguard the country’s sovereignty.
India also has stepped up the building of infrastructure — roads and bridges — in the border areas in the wake of China’s construction activities in regions it has allegedly occupied illegally over the decades, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed on November 11.
