NEW DELHI, Sept 29:
India will not accept any kind of intrusion by China along the border and will defend its territory, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said today.
“These incidents are happening. But we are very, very clear this time that we will not accept any kind of their (Chinese) intrusion into our territory and we will not concede. This is something we are not going to accept,” he said on the sidelines of a function here.
Rijiju insisted that India wants peaceful atmosphere and tranquillity along the border and there is nothing aggressive about its stand.
He said some of the areas along the Sino-Indian border are not very well demarcated and Indian forces “go to the very point and Chinese PLA also come and sometime cross the area which India sees as its territory.
“But we are very firm about our position and we should not let our territory or our perceived territory to go into the hands of the other side. We are every clear on that. This should not be construed as we are being too aggressive or trying to destabilise the situation along the border,” he said.
The Minister, at the same time, said security forces would not carry out any kind of “misadventure” or get into confrontation which will lead to unnecessary strains in ties or escalate tension in the border areas.
“But if they carry out any construction activity in our territory or in our perceived territory, then we have to stop them. That is why this tension goes along. We are very particular about our concerns and we stand by that,” he said.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police guards the Sino-Indian border. The ITBP comes under the Home Ministry.
Rijiju said the recent floods have shown that preparation level in Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya to deal with such calamities was not up to the mark.
“We have seen helplessness in the administration of Jammu and Kashmir. Preparation level was not up to the mark. I am not trying to blame the State Government. But this is the position as Jammu and Kashmir has not faced floods for many decades.
“This is the case of Meghalaya too. Meghalaya was not prepared for floods. Response of the State Government was not adequate as Meghalaya has not faced floods for many years,” he said.
The Minister of State for Home said Assam has been facing floods every years and the response of the State Government in rescue operations and providing relief was quick.
“But we (Central and State Governments) have to work together. We are doing a lot but more needs to be done for disaster preparation,” he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has been maintaining that its ambitious plan of Rs 2,200 crore for flood management of Jhelum river has been lying with the Centre for long.
The Union Minister said the National Disaster Response Force and Central armed police forces were always committed to offer assistance to the natural calamity affected people.
“Our response has to be quick,” he said adding India has been facing natural disasters due to the vastness of the country.
Rijiju said international agencies feel that India has to take the lead role in disaster management and they have been appreciating the work being carried out by various Indian agencies in the field.
“But India will have to play a much bigger role in disaster management, at least in South Asia. India will have to enhance the disaster management capability and use them effectively,” he said. (PTI)
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