GUWAHATI: India’s mapping of a string of disputed and sensitive frontier pockets in Arunachal Pradesh along the McMahon Line on official Survey of India maps has brought into focus multiple pressure points along the India-China boundary, including a mountainous stretch where China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has built structures on terrain that once housed an Indian Army forward post before the 1962 war.Defence assessments a decade ago identified six disputed and four sensitive areas along Arunachal’s border, with forces placed on heightened alert to monitor Chinese activity. The six disputed pockets were Asaphila, Longju, Bisa and Maja in Upper Subansiri, and Tulung La and Yangtse in Tawang.Of these, Asaphila, Longju, Bisa and Maja are under illegal Chinese occupation, with Asaphila lying deeper inside. Longju, Bisa and Maja have now been mapped by India as its territory.Maja is particularly significant as India maintained a forward post there, known as Maja Camp, before the 1962 war. The post was subsequently vacated, and the area came to be treated as a disputed zone. The PLA has now built structures in the mountainous stretch, according to the latest assessment. Chinese forces have also constructed a road through Bisa, linking two points along the disputed frontier.“Both Maja and Bisa are strategically important sectors where the difficult terrain and absence of clearly demarcated ground positions have historically complicated patrolling and surveillance,” a source said.Yangtse has also witnessed Chinese military activity. A PLA transgression was reported there in 2016, although there was no subsequent occupation.The mapping has also covered Thag La (a pass) in Tawang, one of four areas earlier classified as sensitive rather than disputed. Thag La was a major flashpoint preceding the 1962 war. Another sensitive area is Dichu in Anjaw, along Arunachal Pradesh’s eastern extremity, which is already mapped.The other two sensitive stretches are Fishtail-1 in Dibang Valley and Fishtail-2 in Anjaw. Both were occupied by PLA troops during the 1962 war before Chinese forces withdrew following Beijing’s unilateral ceasefire. Both these features have still not been mapped.“India’s mapping of these locations is significant not merely as a cartographic exercise but as a formal documentation of the frontier’s contested and sensitive pockets, which gives New Delhi a stronger record to challenge any Chinese attempt to alter the status quo on the ground,” the source said.The frontier has witnessed repeated transgressions and face-offs. In Sept 2016, Chinese troops entered Yangtse and withdrew after four days following a flag meeting. In Oct 2021, PLA troops again attempted to cross into the Indian side between Bum-La and Yangtse, leading to a face-off.In Dec 2022, Indian and Chinese troops clashed in Tawang after PLA troops entered an area of differing LAC perceptions.Other incidents include a reported Chinese road-building attempt at Tuting in Jan 2010. Upper Subansiri also witnessed the reported capture of an Arunachal youth from Asaphila in March 2020 and five Army porters near Sara 7 in Sept that year.The inclusion of 27 locations may appear broad-based, covering land areas, passes, a lake and a monument. But its more consequential aspect lies in the subset of disputed and sensitive frontier pockets, with the wider mapping providing an administrative and cartographic umbrella around these strategically important areas.
