Srinagar: A senior Army commander on Saturday said there is a considerable Chinese presence in Pakistan
occupied Kashmir (PoK), terming it a "cause of concern".
"There is a considerable amount of Chinese presence in
PoK," General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Army`s
northern command Lt General K T Parnaik told reporters here.
He said the Army has been officially informed that the
Chinese presence in areas close to Line-of-Control was of
engineers and workers for infrastructure development.
"Now there presence is mainly because of
infrastructure development. We are aware that the Chinese are
assisting in construction of a highway...a large number of
dams and infrastructure projects have been developed by the
Chinese in PoK as well as the northern areas. These areas are
very close to the LoC," Parnaik said.
The GOC-in-C was speaking on the sidelines of the
two-day "Army Mela" being held at the Regimental Centre of
Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, presided by state Governor N
N Vohra.
Parnaik said: "Chinese presence in the neighbourhood
has been a cause of concern."
"Officially we are told they are engineers and
workers, and as of now that is how it stands. Whether they are
workers or they are PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) soldiers, I
would not want to comment on that as yet," he said.
PTI
