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Stapled visas to people of Arunachal 'goodwill' gesture: China

Giant bridge made from bamboo across the Siang river, near Along, Arunachal Pradesh (Getty Images)

Tawang Monastery (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: In a major step to fortify defences along the China border, over 50 new border posts are being planned for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP ) force in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh .Official sources said a proposal for creating 54 modern posts for the ITBP is under consideration of the Union home ministry after the border guarding force recently submitted a proposal in this regard."The home ministry has in principle given its nod for the proposal which is being processed," the sources said.Arunachal Pradesh shares a total of 1,126 km of its international border with China, second in length after Jammu and Kashmir which has a 1,597 km long frontier with India's eastern neighbour.As part of modernization and better border management planning of India's security mechanism along this border, prone to a spate of incursions, the posts will be, under the proposal, equipped with all the basic gadgets that the troops require to position themselves at these icy heights."The new border posts will be solar powered and have space to not only accommodate the regular ITBP guards but also to house a small squad of reinforcements in case of emergencies. The posts will have satellite phone connectivity," the sources said.At present, India has 142 border posts along this 3,488 km long frontier with other border states being Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km) and Sikkim (220 km).Arunachal Pradesh, at present, has close to 30 ITBP border posts but a need has been felt to bolster the presence of the paramilitary men in order to meet border challenges and future commitments, they said.The new posts, the sources said, will also help reduce the distance between two ITBP locations thereby enabling the patrols to coordinate better and keep a tight vigil in this sector which has seen instances of incursions from the other side in the past.With more posts coming up, a fresh contingent of troops will also be posted to man these locations, which are expected to be sanctioned soon by the home ministry.According importance to the Arunachal part of the Indo-China border, a sector headquarter (SHQ) of the ITBP has been created in the state capital of Itanagar with close to 10,000 men under its command since 2004, the year when the force was tasked with the job of guarding of the border in this area.A few posts of the force are located at glacial heights of 9,000-18,700 feet in this sector and they have to face heavy snow and blizzard conditions for a number of months in an year.The ITBP, a 50,000 personnel strong force, was raised in 1962 in the wake of the Chinese aggression.