Question : SECURITY CHALLENGES ON LAC

(a) whether the RAW has warned of a clear and present danger of a conflict being initiated by China along its border with India as reported recently and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government has reports of increased People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activity across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in recent months by way of enhanced surveillance and military training exercises which could be tantamount to full dress rehearsals and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether it is now the estimation of the Government that due to substantive infrastructure upgrade in Tibet the PLA can induct and launch operations across the border in a single summer season and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether it is true that the upgrade of physical infrastructure for troop movements in the border regions of Arunachal Pradesh; Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim has been woefully deficient; and

(e) if so, the steps taken by the Government in the past decade to upgrade capacity from discussion to deterrence?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (SHRI A.K. ANTONY)

(a) to (e): Government is aware of the infrastructure development of China and their activities along the border and is fully seized of the security imperatives of the country and reviews the threat perception from time to time as well as the need for developing requisite infrastructure in the border areas. Necessary steps, as required, have been initiated through development of infrastructure as well as operational capabilities of the Armed forces to secure the desired national security objectives.