By IANS
New Delhi : Incursions are occurring along the border with China but India is “alert” to the issue and raises it at various fora, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Friday.
“This is happening everywhere. The problem is that a large part of the border is not demarcated,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Armed Forces Headquarters Service Day celebrations here.
“But we are very much alert and there is no question of compromising our stand,” Antony maintained.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief, V.K. Joshi, has gone on record to say that there have been some 140 incursions along various sectors of the India-China frontier.
“They have their own perceptions, we have our own perceptions. Sometimes their troops are patrolling in areas that we feel are ours and at times our troops are patrolling in areas they feel are theirs.”
“This is the main problem,” the minister said.
“When the slightest serious incursions occurs we take up the issue on various platforms,” Antony said.
He also noted that talks with China on the border issue are going on and “there has been some progress”.
India and China share a 3,500 km disputed border. The dispute erupted into a bitter war in 1962 after which their relations remained chilly for almost two decades.