It's a patchy network that bothers Army personnel the most at Kibithu, a remote Indo-China border post in Arunachal Pradesh. The inconvenience turns into frustration when they look at the screen of their smartphones.
"A network search shows that the signal strength of one cellular company is excellent. Sadly it is from a service provider on the other side of the border. Sometimes we can't talk to our families for months," a soldier told this correspondent.
Despite poor connectivity, the soldiers carry mobiles with them. "Even though we cannot talk to our families over phones, these mobiles are very useful for us. Whenever a colleague returns from vacation, he brings along downloaded movies, songs and games. We spend our free time watching and playing those," said a jawan.
The post in Kibithu sector, located about 2,770 km from Delhi, is the last of the Indian Army and is where soldiers from both sides meet. One such engagement of border personnel was held at Damai post in China on October 1, the Chinese National Day, ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to India. Both armies expressed a desire to strengthen their relationship.
There is a distance of about two and a half kilometres between the two posts, which was crossed by a delegation of the Indian Army.
The location has not seen any Chinese infiltration for the past 17 months, thanks to better relations between the two sides here, said a senior Army officer.
"When we have national days or festivals, we invite them to our post and when they have their national day, we meet at Damai," he said.
Notwithstanding the tough conditions, the officer said, the morale of the force is very high.
While Tezu, the nearest major town in Arunachal is nearly 240 kilometres, the journey stretches to two days due to broken roads. The route has a 50-year-old bridge, which soldiers fear can an accident anytime.
By contrast, the 'excellent' signals that soldiers see on their mobiles comes from powerful towers installed in the town of Nyangchi, promoted as a tourism spot in China and referred to as the 'Switzerland of China'. It has many facilities due to access to good infrastructure.
In the 1962 war, Chinese soldiers received a tremendous challenge from the Indian Army in Kibithu. The Indian Army's fierce response drove the Chinese out. A war memorial has been built to commemorate the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives protecting the motherland. The strategic Dichu Pass connecting India and China, which the Chinese took advantage of during the war, is closely guarded by jawans. On the Indo-China border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, there are often reports of infiltration by Chinese troops on our side, which is why a tight vigil of the army here is round the clock.
Zee Media Newsroom
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