The said village has come up during the last one year. The image dated a little more than a year before November 1, 2020 does not show any construction activity
Clarion India
NEW DELHI — New satellite images have revealed that China has constructed a new village in Arunachal Pradesh, consisting of about 101 homes. The revelation was made today by NDTV.
The television channel says that the same images, dated November 1, 2020, have been analysed by several experts who confirmed the construction. It’s approximately 4.5 kms within Indian territories of the de facto border. The experts are of the view that the development is of huge concern to India.
The said village is located on the banks of the River Tsari Chu, and it lies in the Upper Subansiri district, an area which has been long disputed by India and China and has been marked by armed conflict.
The village has come up during the last one year. Claiming this, NDTV says that the latest image is dated November 1, 2020. The image dated a little more than a year before that – August 26, 2019 – does not show any construction activity.
The Foreign Ministry has not challenged the images. “We have seen recent reports on China undertaking construction work along the border areas with India. China has undertaken such infrastructure construction activity in the past several years,” NDTV quoted the ministry as saying.
The government says it remains committed to improving border infrastructure. ”Our Government too has stepped up border infrastructure including the construction of roads, bridges etc, which has provided much needed connectivity to the local population along the border.”
In October last year, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “For some time, the Indian side has been ramping up infrastructure development along the border and stepping up military deployment that is the root cause for the tensions between the two sides.”
There are, however, no signs of Indian road or infrastructure development in the immediate vicinity of the new Chinese village, says NDTV.
In fact, in November 2020, which is when this satellite image was taken, the BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao, had warned the Lok Sabha of Chinese incursions in his state, referring specifically to the Upper Subansiri district. On Monday, he told NDTV that this includes the construction of a new double-lane road. ”Construction is still going on. China has entered more than 60-70 kms inside the upper Subansiri district if you follow the path along the river. They are constructing a road along the river known locally as the Lensi as it flows in the direction of the Subansiri river.”
According to NDTV, the Foreign Ministry did not respond directly to a question on whether the village construction has been diplomatically raised with Beijing. It said, ”The government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all the necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
An authentic online map of the Surveyor General of India, used by the government as its official map, clearly shows that the Chinese village lies well within Indian territory.
The images with NDTV have been procured from Planet Labs Inc, satellite imagery experts who monitor the planet on a daily basis. They show the exact coordinates of the new village, which lies north of a large square-shaped structure, believed by defence analysts to be a Chinese military post, first captured as an image over a decade ago by Google Earth.
The new images with NDTV indicate that this post has also been substantially upgraded.
Google Earth images also indicate that the village lies south of the McMahon Line, the demarcation between Tibet and India’s Northeast which New Delhi believes marks the boundary between India and China in the region. This line is disputed by Beijing.
