China escalates activity along Himachal Pradesh border as it accuses India of disturbing peace

Amid the India-China standoff in Sikkim over Doka La, heightened Chinese activity has been reported across the border in Himachal Pradesh districts near the area where the neighbouring country is constructing roads,  Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday. Residents of Kinnaur as well as Lahaul and Spiti have reported Chinese helicopter movements and increased road-building and construction activities across the border area. “Though we have been seeing construction activities for the past year, there has been a marked acceleration in the past four months,” Hindustan Times quoted a government official as saying. Kinnaur shares a 140km border with China, while Lahaul and Spiti district share 80km. [caption id=“attachment_3854667” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, reiterating its demand that India must withdraw its troops from the border along Sikkim, China on Wednesday said it had  informed India in advance  about its road building activity in Doka La on the border. In a document, China on Wednesday dismissed India’s claims that China was attempting to change the status quo of the border, and called Indian troops attempts to transgress into Chinese territory was had “gravely undermined peace and tranquility of the China-India border area.” It also dismissed India’s contention that the road building at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan had serious security implications for New Delhi. China also maintained that India had no right to interfere in the boundary talks and that it was working on a solution with Bhutan. However, the Chinese media on Tuesday said that India was making up an “imaginary threat” in a report in the state-run Global Times by Long Xingchun, a research fellow at The Charhar Institute and director of the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University. “India probably just needs an enemy, even an imagined one. With multiple nationalities, religions and languages, plus intense internal conflicts and a strong centrifugal force pushing against national unity, India needs an external enemy as distraction,” the report said. The article also claimed that China would naturally fill Pakistan’s place as the “arch-enemy” would no longer suffice as India grows into a big power. With inputs from IANS