NEW DELHI: Carrying forward the tradition of giving military training to the border population, started after the India-China war in 1962, Narendra Modis ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is planning to provide military training to people living along the China border so that they can act as a paramilitary force and keep a check on the incursions by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).
Curiously, as a symbol of the thaw in Indo-China relations, Army Chief General Bikram Singh is travelling to China on a four-day visit beginning Wednesday, 2 July, timed to go with fresh incursions by Chinese troops into Indian territory in Ladakh and the publication of a new map that shows Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir as Chinese territory.
The Indian Express reports that according to a top government official, The border population will be given military training and they will act as a paramilitary force in a moment of crisis. A person living along one kilometre of the border is the best choice to keep a vigil on any kind of transgression and incursion, especially when the border is not demarcated. The UPA governments policy of keeping the border areas closed for any kind of civilian movement has cost us dearly, said the official.
This is in keeping with the NDA governments policy to make the border areas accessible to civilians and develop infrastructure and roads on a war footing. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has already proposed spending Rs 5,000 crore to encourage villagers to settle along the China border in Arunachal Pradesh. The proposal is pending clearance from the Finance Ministry.
Due to lack of infrastructure, the people living in the area are reported to have moved at least 50 kilometres away from the China border, abandoning their homes and settling in the foothills. If we equip the border population with all the amenities and also provide them arms training, the number of incursions will come down. We are not going to anybody elses territory, we are securing our country by doing so, said the official.
The tradition of giving military training to the border population started after the India-China war in 1962, when the Special Service Bureau, now renamed Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), was raised to inculcate a feeling of nationalism among the border population and develop their capabilities for resistance through a continuos process of motivation and training. The practice of armed training was discontinued in 2001.
Meanwhile, amid fresh provocations, Indias Army Chief General Bikram Singh is travelling to China on a four-day visit beginning Wednesday. During his visit that comes just weeks before his retirement as the Indian Army Chief, Gen Singh is likely to discuss confidence building measures along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and joint training exercises between the armed forces of the two countries. The four-day visit of the Indian army Chief is taking place after a gap of nine years. Former Army chief Gen NC Vij had visited China in 2005 after which military ties remained frozen until the last two years when defence ties gained momentum following improvement in political and economic relations.
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