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George to check out reports
on Chinese incursions

Defence Minister George Fernandes will visit Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, for an on-the-spot study of the situation in forward areas of the Sino-Indian border, following Chief Minister Mukut Mithi's assertion of frequent Chinese incursions, in violation of the Line of Actual Control.

Defence sources said that Fernandes may be accompanied by chief of army staff General S Padmanabhan. The GoC of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps, which guards the Chinese frontier, Lt Gen Mahesh Vij and top officials will be present during the assessment.

In Itanagar, the defence minister will meet Mithi, who is, however, not scheduled to accompany Fernandes during his visit to the forward areas.

Sources in Itanagar said that he will brief Fernandes about his findings. The chief minister, in a recent interview, had said that there were Chinese intrusions particularly in Tawang, Taksingh and Maja.

"The recent discovery of a mule trail by the Army and intelligence proves beyond doubt that the Chinese Army has intruded into Indian territory and the entire border is not safe," Mithi had said.

After his statement, Fernandes told newsmen in Bareilly on Tuesday that he would visit Arunachal Pradesh for an on-the-spot assessment. "I presume when the chief minister speaks he has adequate information," the defence minister had said.

China has rejected Indian allegations that its troops were making regular incursions across their sensitive border. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told journalists in Beijing that there was no substance in the allegations.

"The Chinese side has all along strictly observed the Line of Actual Control along the China-India border and has been making unremitting efforts towards the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas; therefore, the relevant allegations by the Indian side are baseless," said Zhu.

India and China fought a bitter border war in 1962, with Chinese troops advancing deep into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicting heavy casualties on Indian troops. India says China still holds 40,000 square km of its territory in Kashmir, while China lays claim to a wide swathe of territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

Top army officials in the north-east, however, say that neither China nor India is interested in escalating tension. "We keep having regular border personnel meetings with our Chinese counterparts and whatever little problems arise, we sort them out," a top official of the forward-most brigade at Tawang told rediff.com .

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