The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has at present deployed about 19 battalions (19,000 men) at the 3,488km long border the force director general RK Bhatia said.
The chief of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police today said there were "no hostilities" along the Chinese border and no activities which could be termed as "unfriendly".
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has at present deployed about 19 battalions (19,000 men) at the 3,488km long border, which the force director general RK Bhatia said had "certain patches" where the distance between two border posts is nearly 100km.
"I am completely ruling out any hostilities....there are no unfriendly activities... to our notice there is no infiltration," Bhatia told reporters during an interaction at the force headquarters here, when he was asked if he was ruling out any intrusions along the frontier.
He said the Sino-Indian border is termed "friendly" by the government and he would go by that definition.
"We would not say that any such activity is there which, as I have termed it, this term is not mine this term is an accepted term, by the government, that it is a friendly border. So as a friendly border if you do not have any activities like the hostilities you see from the other borders... I will not call any kind of this thing," Bhatia said while replying to a volley of questions on the China border from reporters.
"You see the point is there is no demarcation on this border. There are no border pillars on this border and there is no boundary on this border. We are guarding a friendly border...(what you are saying) they amount to unfriendly activities," he said.
Bhatia also said that a huge restructuring plan for the force, which includes bolstering men and material along the Sino-Indian border, is under "positive and active consideration" of the government.
The plan, once approved, will reduce the average gaps of about 20-25km with certain patches of 100km along the border and troops will undertake effective patrols.
The ITBP chief said the government has also approved a special additional grant of Rs102 crore for the force, keeping in mind its duties in naxal-affected areas.
The grants will be utilised for procuring certain special weapons like AK-47 rifles, equipments, night vision devices, thermal detectors, deep-search mine detectors, high-power telescopes, communication receivers, passive night vision devices, pre-fabricated huts and ready-to-eat meals.
"As the troops have to undertake long operations of area domination in the naxal hit areas the force has been sanctioned these ready-to-eat meals along with new weapons and gadgets," Bhatia said in the run up to the 49th Raising Day celebration of the force on October 24 near Chandigarh.
The ITBP has deployed almost 5,000 men for anti-naxal operations in Chhattisgarh and recently three of its troops were killed in an Maoist ambush in the state when they were returning to their camp.
Besides being deployed for various internal security duties, the ITBP has recently been asked to guard a Aviation Research Centre facility in Orissa, Bhatia said.
As a part of the new restructuring plan for the almost 50,000-personnel strong force, 13 new battalions will be raised and seven to eight new training centres established, he added.
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