ITBP to create 54 border outposts at India-China border

Proposal is viewed as being essential for ITBP command in state capital rather than in the faraway location in Meghalaya's capital Shillong and Assam's Tezpur

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has proposed to create 54 border outposts along the McMahon Line to further improve security in Arunachal Pradesh and along the India-China border, an official said on Monday.

On Sunday, ITBP Inspector-General Manoj Singh Rawat, who is in charge of the North East Frontier Headquarters, called on Chief Minister Pema Khandu and discussed ITBP's proposals to expand their establishment in the state in order to improve security in the state and at the border.

It also proposed a permanent stationing of one ITBP battalion at Hollongi area here in the mountainous state capital of Arunachal Pradesh.

The proposal is viewed as being essential to base the ITBP command in the state capital rather than in the faraway location in Meghalaya's capital Shillong and Assam's Tezpur for efficiency in command control.

The ITBP also informed the Chief Minister of its plan to open new sectors across the state in towns like Likabali, Pasighat and Aalo.

The ITBP officer announced that besides guarding the borders, the paramilitary force will also be deployed to guard all essential government installations, offices and institutions in the state.

Chief Minister Khandu has agreed to extend all possible cooperation to the paramilitary force in expanding its establishment in the state.

He appreciated the ITBP's role in maintaining peace and security in the state, and also lauded the humanitarian assistance extended by it during natural calamities.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with China. The McMahon Line, a thick line drawn on the map of the British India that translates into an imaginary land border now known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), separates India and China.