Just 40 days after the September 12 meeting between Prime Minister Narendera Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping comes the alarming revealation about regular face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops along the Arunachal Pradesh border. The revelations made by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Shatrujeet Kapur has raised some disturbing questions.

"Recently, a situation arose in Arunachal Pradesh where face-offs took place and are still ongoing," Kapur, the ITBP Director General said while praising the "exemplary role" of ITBP's Shaurya Commando teams in dealing with the challenge in the mountain ranges dividing the two countries.

China regards Arunachal Pradesh as a part of its Tibetan region. Troops of its People's Liberation Army have attacked India's military lines along the Arunachal border on seven occasions since Xi Jinping took over as president in 2013. This is why any border disturbance needs to be taken seriously and examined to verify if there is a sinister design.

The public relations department released a few video clips of the speech. This put at rest initial concern that the speech, made to the uniformed forces, had been leaked to the media. Kapur’s statement provided fodder to the Congress and other opposition parties bent on proving that the Modi government is inefficient. But the ground situation is a lot more complex than what political discourse would suggest.

One would assume that Kapur did not deliberately provoke a controversy when he made the........

© Mathrubhumi English