The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday confirmed reports of
Chinese helicopters entering Indian airspace along the international
border near Kaurik and Lapcha areas in the twin tribal districts of
Kinnuar and Lahaul-Spiti, a few days ago.
Alarmed by the second such incident in the past two months,
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the Centre has
already been informed about the violations, which were spotted by the
the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and some locals on March
16. The choppers entered deep into the areas over Lahaul-Spiti district
and stayed for almost 10 to 12 minutes.
Dhumal, who spoke on the issue in the state Assembly after
Lahual-Spiti MLA Ram Lal Markandey drew his attention about a fresh
incident of aerospace violations by the Chinese, slammed the Centre for
ignoring “clear warning signals”. “I have raised the issue with Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and also at other levels about China’s growing
activities, including building airfields and extending railway lines in
the Tibet region. It is quite regrettable that the Government of India
has not given due credence to these,” he said.
Dhumal said, “China has been complaining and objecting to
anything being done by India on the border. It even opposed Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, movements of
exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama within India, and
construction of roads at Leh but China’s own activities have started
creating serious alarms.
“We could not perceive the Chinese threat in 1962 as we were
fascinated by ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai’ and now again, China is
strengthening its borders and we must take it seriously,” said Dhumal.
He also said recently some Indian Air Force officers had met and
briefed him about the gravity of the situation at this side of the
border in Himachal Pradesh. “The government has allocated a piece of
land to the Indian Air Force for installation of a radar to monitor the
airspace. Whatever more is needed, we (Himachal Pradesh) will do it, but
it’s for the centre to act without wasting any time and sanction the
Manali-Leh railway line for which I have been lobbying since 2009,” said
Dhumal.
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