After Sanctioning Seven New ITBP Battalions, Government Approves Creation Of Multiple Intelligence Gathering Posts Along India-China Border

To enhance vigilance and prevent incidents like the 2020 Galwan clash, the government of India has approved a proposal to establish multiple border intelligence posts (BIPs) along the India-China border.

According to a report by Economic Times, each BIP will be staffed by a team of four to five officials from the Intelligence Bureau and will receive security support from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel.

The personnel assigned to these BIPs will be responsible for monitoring border activities and promptly sharing updates with higher authorities and the government.

The exact number of BIPs planned remains undisclosed, due to the sensitive nature of this information.

The first BIP, on the other hand, will be established in Mago village of Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district, which according to the Economic Times report, got its first motorable road only in 2020.

In conjunction with the approval of seven new ITBP battalions (four of which are already deployed along the Line of Actual Control or LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, with three under raising), this move aims to fill gaps in patrolling and enhance the government's situational awareness of Chinese movements along the LAC.

The ITBP currently manages approximately 180 border outposts (BOPs) in addition to the 47 BOPs and a dozen staging camps sanctioned in 2020, spanning the northern frontier.

These measures to strengthen the LAC come in response to China's actions in May 2020 when thousands of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops were deployed along the LAC, coinciding with the global Covid-19 pandemic.

In June 2020, a clash between Indian and Chinese PLA troops occurred in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian Army soldiers and numerous Chinese PLA soldiers.

Since then, Indian forces and Chinese PLA forces have been in a standoff along the entire India-China border, now in its fourth year.