China's latest move of including Arunachal Pradesh, and Aksai Chin in its 2023 version ‘standard map’ has riled up the already broken diplomatic and military relations between India and China. This also comes on days after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's Premiere Xi Jinping held talks on the side lines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in South Africa. After the meet, news report said that both leaders had directed defence administration to reach a solution on the Line of Actual Control dispute between China's People's Liberation Army, and Indian Army.
On a day China's new ‘standard map’ came to limelight, satellite images have revealed that Beijing has ramped up construction of reinforced personnel bunkers and underground facilities in Aksai Chin, according to a Hindustan Times report.
The Aksai Chin is the part China occupied during the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
The satellite images show that the construction is being done in Aksai Chin region about 70km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The HT report cited a Maxar Technologies satellite imagery which showed evident the development. Between 6 December 2021 and 18 August 2023, China seems to have constructed reinforced personnel bunkers at three locations and tunnelling activity at three more locations. All six locations are within an area of roughly 15 square kilometre, the report noted.
Earlier in May, it was reported that China had expanded airbases all along the LAC by building new runways, hardened shelters to protect jets, and new support and military operations buildings.
Beginning on 5 May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in aggressive melee, face-offs, and skirmishes at locations along the Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed Pangong Lake in Ladakh and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and near the border between Sikkim and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Additional clashes also took place at locations in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Repeated disengagement talks on diplomatic levels have ended in no solution.
