China moves its nationals into its vacant ‘defense villages’ along LAC

Subject: IR

Section: Places in new

Context:

Chinese nationals have started occupying several of their model “Xiaokang” border defense villages across India’s north-eastern borders which the country has been building along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 2019.

More on news:

Senior officials said the Chinese in the last few months, have started occupying a couple of these villages built on its side of the LAC across from Lohit Valley and the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
While the exact nature of these villages is unclear, the dwellings are understood to be “dual-use infrastructure” for both civil and military purposes.
These are seen as a Chinese assertion of its territorial claims along the LAC.
They have thus remained a concern for the military.
In the last few months Chinese nationals have been moving in — it’s not known if the occupants are civilians or military personnel.

About the Recent Developments:

China has been constructing 628 such “well-off villages” along India’s borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region, including Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh for over five years now.
Sources said the Chinese are building infrastructure all along the LAC bordering the northeast, even as the LAC remains far off from most inhabited areas or areas of importance except for Tawang and the Siliguri Corridor.
The Chinese have built sufficient infrastructure along the LAC at Tawang.
Even in other areas such as Siang valley of Arunachal Pradesh, we have been seeing rapid development of Chinese infrastructure,” an official said.
According to official sources,Chinese have consistently improved their existing infrastructure including improving their connectivity through passes, constructing roads and bridges and their model villages.
China has also been constructing infrastructure, including border villages, in Bhutanese territory.
In the last three to four years, India has also stepped up work on its border infrastructure which includes improving forward connectivity, constructing alternate routes to the LAC as well as connecting them.

About the Vibrant Villages Programmes:

Under the Vibrant Villages programmes, India plans to develop 663 border villages into modern villages with all amenities in the first phase.
Of them, at least 17 such villages along the borders with China in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have been selected for development as a pilot project under the programme.
In Arunachal Pradesh, villages in the eastern part of the state and in the Tawang region have been identified such as Zemithang, Taksing, Chayang Tajo, Tuting and Kibithu.
In Arunachal Pradesh, three major highways are at different stages of construction:
- the Trans-Arunachal Highway;
- the Frontier Highway; and
- the East-West Industrial Corridor Highway.
There are plans to improve connectivity to Tawang with the construction of at least two alternate axes — in addition to the existing one connecting Guwahati and Tawang.
Earlier, in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang valley, there were roads just till a little ahead of Anini, but now roads are being constructed at all sides of the valley.