After Chinese incursion bids, ITBP to set up new command in Leh

New Delhi: In the wake of frequent incursion bids by Chinese People's Liberation Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will be establishing a new command at Leh and the process of setting up over 40 modern border outposts in the icy heights of Ladakh has been initiated.

The ITBP, which mans the 4,086-km long Sino-Indian border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, has decided to establish a Sector command which will be headed by an Inspector General of Police rank, official sources said today.

ITBP, which is the first point of response to any incursion by the PLA, earlier had a Frontier headquarter headed by two Deputy Inspector Generals based at Leh and Srinagar. Both these officers reported to an Inspector General based at Chandigarh.

The Government has accepted the demand of the ITBP for creation of a Sector Command to facilitate taking decisions at crucial times without any loss of time, the sources said.

"The Inspector General's office has been shifted from Chandigarh to Ladakh where the Army Corps Commander sits. This has been done for better coordination between the two forces present to secure the China border areas," a senior official of the ITBP said.

The Army, which carved out a separate Corps after the Kargil intrusion in 1999, had been demanding operational control over the ITBP, which has been time and again rejected by the government.

In a related development, work has been initiated for setting up 40 Border Outposts in the icy heights of Ladakh to be manned by ITBP jawans who guard the border of the country in hostile weather at many places where the mercury slips to minus 40 degrees Celsius.