New Delhi: Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Sanjay Arora on Monday accepted that "small transgression incidents happen periodically" on the India-China border with Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops trying to enter into Indian territory, clarifying "we (ITBP) keep giving them appropriate responses". Speaking on the sideline of the flag off event of the 4th Phase cycle rally being carried out by the ITBP personnel, Arora said that the force "last year showed its preparedness and its capability and that it will serve the nation with the same spirit in future too".
Asked over some media reports regarding transgression of over 100 Chinese troops in Indian territory in August end, Arora said: "ITBP is a border guarding force. Our mandate is to maintain the integrity of the border. We have earlier shown our capabilities. ITBP's capability and preparedness is satisfactory. At the border, incidents of small transgression happen periodically and we keep giving them appropriate responses."
The 1988-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, however, did not clarify if the report of transgressing of 100 PLA troops was right or wrong. Other ITBP officers confirmed that transgression incidents happen on the India-China border due to differences in perception of the Line of Actual Control in the area. As both India and China do not share a defined and demarcated border, it leads to frequent incursions, said an ITBP officer, requesting anonymity, adding instead, there is the LAC on the border and it stretches thousands of kilometres from Ladakh all the way to Arunachal Pradesh.