Alertness levels very high, China can’t surprise us, says ITBP on LAC in Tawang sector

Having already given a bloody nose to the People’s Liberation Army troops in Eastern Ladakh during face-offs in the ongoing conflict, the ITBP in the sensitive Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh says its men were on a high readiness mode on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Chinese won’t be able to spring any surprises in this sector.

In a visit to the forward posts on the LAC from where the Chinese territory could be seen in the Tawang sector, Team ANI witnessed the high preparedness levels of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) troops and the infrastructure developed for rapid forward deployments here in recent times.

“When incidents (transgression by Chinese Army in Eastern Ladakh) like this happen, we have to remain on high alert mode so that such unforeseen incidents are not allowed to happen and there are no surprises. As you can see that though there are extreme cold conditions which make things difficult, our men are on a very high alert and keeping an eye on the border all the time,” ITBP’s 55 battalion commander Commandant I B Jha told ANI at a forward location

During the hand to hand fight, despite being outnumbered not only prevented the Chinese troops from advancing, they also caused several injuries on the Chinese side. Commandant Jha said the bravery shown by ITBP troops in the early face-offs with the Chinese in April-May timeframe has highly inspired the troops deployed in the Arunachal sector.

“Our troops fought hard in the Ladakh sector and showed their mettle. The troops here often tell me that their counterparts in Ladakh fought hard and they also want an opportunity to do better than them if an opportunity comes by in our area of responsibility,” he said.