Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Friday firmly rejected claims of a fresh Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) incursion and face-off in the state’s border areas, asserting that the Indian Army was effectively safeguarding the country’s territory.“We don’t think there was an incursion as the Indian Army personnel are deployed and maintaining the territory,” Khandu told reporters while responding to media reports of an alleged confrontation in the remote Taksing circle of Upper Subansiri district.The chief minister said he would independently verify the claims by speaking to local residents as well as the Army. “I have invited members of the Nah community. I want to hear their views first. I will also speak to the Army to know the situation there and what exactly happened,” he said.Khandu’s remarks came amid media reports citing unverified videos circulating on social media that purportedly showed a fresh face-off between Indian Army personnel and the PLA in Taksing, close to the India-China border.The controversy follows allegations made in June by the Nah Welfare Society (NWS), an organisation representing the Nah people, a small sub-tribe of the Tagin community living in the remote Taksing area of Upper Subansiri district.In a letter to the district deputy commissioner, the organisation claimed that the PLA occupied several areas traditionally used by local communities over the past five years and built roads, bridges and military camps there.The society identified five locations — Oying (2445) in the Asaphila area, Paniar in Chujarta, Marpan (Marnafe), Potrang Lake and Tindingtang — as being under alleged Chinese occupation.The Indian Army, however, rejected the allegations in June, dismissing “some media reports alleging recent encroachment by the Chinese PLA and setting up of camps in Arunachal Pradesh” as “incorrect and without any basis.” It maintained that the Army continues to dominate the border areas and closely monitors all activities along the Line of Actual Control.
