India asks China to cease activities in PoK: Jaitley

Government keeps an eye on Chinese presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and has asked China to "cease such activities" there, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley informed Lok Sabha today.

"Government pays close attention to Chinese activities in PoK and it has conveyed its concerns to China and asked them to cease such activities," he said in reply to a written query in Lok Sabha.

He said issues are discussed by the government in regular meetings with Chinese counterparts and "entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues are discussed."

The presence of Chinese Army troops has been witnessed in recent times and there numbers were estimated to be around 5,000 by the Army couple of years ago. They were mainly involved in construction activities there.

Meanwhile, answering another query on alleged attacks by Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen, Jaitley said continuous efforts by the government have led to the release of 536 of the 541 arrested by that country till July 18.

He said as per a 2008 agreement, the two governments have agreed that there would be no firing on Indian vessels and Indian fishermen would not go to the "sensitive areas" designated by the Sri Lankan government.

To a query on missile test range, the Defence Minister said the DRDO has proposed to set up such ranges in Rutland Islands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Nagayalanka in Krishna district of Seemandhra state.

Giving out the reasons for delays in execution of road projects by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Jaitley said delay in forest and environmental clearance, hard rock stretches and difficulty in availability of construction material are the main reasons behind it.