New Delhi: A fact-finding committee of the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) has alleged a pattern of gradual and persistent Chinese PLA advances in the Taksing sector of Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district, with party leaders warning that Indian troops do not maintain a continuous presence in some forward areas while Chinese personnel remain active and have established permanent infrastructure.
Taksing is a remote border settlement in Upper Subansiri district in the northern part of Arunachal Pradesh, close to the India-China frontier.
The area is among the most difficult frontier sectors in the state, with the Taksing road passing through dense forests, steep mountainous terrain and areas affected by extreme weather and limited connectivity. The Border Roads Organisation connected Taksing by road from Limeking in 2018 after years of construction.
The four-member committee, headed by former minister and PPA chief adviser Kahfa Bengia, reached Taksing on 10 July and interacted with prominent local residents, community members, intellectuals and senior defence personnel and Army jawans stationed in the area.
PPA president and MLA Nabam Vivek told this newspaper that the fact-finding exercise was initiated after the party received inputs from villagers about Chinese activity in the area.
Vivek said that since he and his party represent an area adjacent to India’s border with China, it was his responsibility to bring the situation on the ground to the attention of the people as well as the government in Delhi.
“We represent an area which is adjacent to the border with China. It is our responsibility to bring to the notice of the people and the government in Delhi what is happening on the ground. We received inputs from the locals about what the Chinese were doing, and that is why I sent a fact-finding committee to Taksing to ascertain the situation,” Vivek said.
The committee’s report says its members interacted with local prominent, influential, popular and intellectual personalities in Taksing, Maza and Galemo, besides senior defence personnel and Army jawans stationed in the area.
Speaking to this newspaper, Bengia said the situation reflected what he described as a Chinese strategy of “salami slicing”, with the PLA gradually moving forward and establishing a more permanent presence.
“The Chinese are indulging in salami slicing. They are entering no-man’s land and gradually moving closer. They are building permanent structures and staying there, whereas our troops go there only for a limited period and then come back,” Bengia said.
Vivek said the concern was that the incremental nature of the alleged Chinese activity could eventually alter the ground situation if it continued unchecked.
“The Chinese have started building permanent structures. Our troops go there for a few days during the favourable months and then come back. The Chinese stay there. Their presence is permanent,” he said.
The PPA committee’s report specifically flags the lack of consistent Indian patrolling throughout the year as one of the major vulnerabilities in the area. It states that regular patrolling is carried out between April and October, while operations are discontinued during the remaining months because of heavy snowfall and hostile weather conditions. The report alleges that PLA activity, in contrast, continues during this period.
The committee cited the engagement of local porters as one indication of the difference in the two sides’ presence.
According to the report, the absence of porter engagement during certain months reveals the discontinuation of Indian patrolling activity along the Line of Actual Control.
The report also highlights Shera 5 Point, a patrolling point in Indian territory that, according to the committee, has remained abandoned since 2023. The committee was told that following a confrontation between Chinese PLA personnel and Arunachal Scouts, Indian troops moved away from the point and have not returned since.
The report says that the Chinese PLAs came back, destroyed and dismantled the symbolic remains of the Indian patrolling troops at Shera 5 Point and since then the Indian patrolling armies have been denied access to the point by the Chinese PLAs.
Bengia said the Shera 5 Point episode was significant because it demonstrated how a temporary absence from a forward position could potentially result in a change in the ground situation.
The PPA report further raises concerns over Nanga Pahar, which it says was traditionally used as an ancestral hunting and yak-rearing area by the Nah and Mara communities. The area, according to the report, has now become a “strictly prohibited zone for the local denizens”, which the committee says has provided an advantage to the PLA in pushing forward its activities towards the Indian side.
Vivek said restrictions on traditional grazing and hunting areas were particularly concerning for villagers living along the frontier.
“The traditional grazing and hunting zones of our villagers are now being restricted. These are areas which our communities have traditionally accessed. The villagers and local representatives are concerned that if this continues, the Chinese PLA will keep coming closer and closer,” Vivek said.
Bengia and Vivek also told this newspaper that the Chinese have constructed a motorable road and permanent structures close to the border. They said the creation of permanent infrastructure, combined with a continuing presence, gives the Chinese side an advantage over Indian forces operating in difficult terrain and under seasonal constraints.
The PPA committee’s own assessment describes the alleged Chinese activity as “well calculated, gradual and persistent”, saying the same modus operandi has been repeated over the years. It describes the ground reports of Chinese intrusions as “inexplicable yet irrefutable”.
The committee has called for accelerated infrastructure development in the sector, particularly the road network connecting Taksing with other forward areas. It said the ongoing Border Roads Organisation road construction from Nacho to Taksing should be taken up on a “war footing”, alleging that the pace of construction was sluggish and that the existing road conditions were inadequate for seamless and faster movement of personnel and equipment towards the eastern border.
The PPA has also called for priority construction of the proposed 68-km BRO road from Galemo to Pokorla, as well as the Taksing-Pokorla route through Yaja and Huri, with specified completion timelines.
The committee has recommended construction of a helipad at Sipi 2 and permanent Army base camps at Sipi 4 and Sipi 6, describing them as an immediate requirement to keep PLA activity at bay.
It has also flagged inadequate electricity and telecommunications connectivity in forward areas.
According to the report, both Army personnel and villagers raised concerns over dependence on diesel generators and poor telephone connectivity, with the committee saying inadequate power and network infrastructure was demoralising personnel and residents in areas such as Maza and Galemo.
The PPA has further opposed any deviation of the proposed Frontier Highways from Taksing, citing the area’s strategic importance along the Line of Actual Control.
For the PPA leadership, the central concern is that the cumulative effect of incremental Chinese activity could be more consequential than any single episode of intrusion.
Bengia and Vivek said the issue was not merely about temporary movement across a disputed frontier but about the creation of a sustained physical presence through infrastructure, permanent structures and restrictions on traditional access.
The allegations are based on the PPA’s fact-finding exercise and accounts gathered by its committee. The report does not provide satellite imagery, coordinates or other publicly available technical evidence independently establishing the alleged Chinese structures or road construction.
