New Delhi: At least 37 incursions of Chinese forces have been reported during the last five years in Uttarakhand, which has a 350 km long border with China, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said on Monday.
Speaking at the chief ministers' conference on Internal Security, the newly-elected chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Bahuguna said Chinese are disputing Indian territorial claims regarding Barahoti in Chamoli district.
"There have been several reported incursions by Chinese patrol parties into Indian territory in this area - six times in 2006, twice in 2007, ten times in 2008, eleven times in 2009, five times in 2010 and thrice in 2011," he said.
Underlining the importance of a potent road network in the border areas, Bahuguna said the Centre has sanctioned 12 strategic roads in border areas but the progress has been slow owing to forest clearances.
"Expediting the construction of border roads and tracks is crucial especially in view of the modern highways constructed by China right upto the international border with India," he said.
Bahuguna also raised concerns about the threat posed by the Maoists in Nepal who have declared Kalapani in Pithoragarh district to be a Nepalese territory and repeatedly threatening to march towards it.
"A frontal organisation of the Nepalese Maoists, the Young Communist League (YCL), is very active in the Nepalese province of Mahakali Anchal, which has borders with Uttarakhand," the chief minister said.
Bahuguna said intelligence inputs indicate that the CPI Maoists have designs to deploy People's Liberation Guerilla Army cadres in Uttarakhad and intensify their tactical counter-offensive campaign in order to push the state into the "fourth stage" of the revolutionary movement.
PTI
First Published: Monday, April 16, 2012, 18:51