The Centre on Thursday said that it has not accepted China’s illegal occupation of a part of the Indian territory, ANI reported.

“China has undertaken construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has illegally occupied over decades,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. “India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims.”

He said that India has protested against the Chinese occupation of Indian territory through diplomatic means.

Bagchi added that India has taken note of the Pentagon report on China’s construction activities in the eastern part of India, PTI reported.

On November 4, a Pentagon report titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2021”, explained how China had strengthened its border infrastructure during the peak of its dispute with India.

India and China have been locked in a border standoff since their troops clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash. China put the number of casualties on its side at four.

After several rounds of talks, India and China had disengaged from Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh in February. After the commander level talks on July 31, the two countries also agreed to disengage from Gogra.

On Thursday, Bagchi said that the Indian Army had improved the border infrastructure by constructing new roads and bridges.

“The government is committed to the objective of creating infrastructure along border areas for improvement of livelihood, including in Arunachal Pradesh,” he added.

Pentagon report findings

The Pentagon report released last week said that China set up a fibre-optic network in remote parts of the western Himalayas for faster communication and better protection from foreign interception.

The document claimed that in 2020, China also built a village between the “Tibet Autonomous Region and Arunachal Pradesh”.

“These and other infrastructure development efforts along the India-China [border] have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media,” the Pentagon report said.

The Pentagon added that China quickened its “training and fielding of equipment” despite the coronavirus crisis, the border standoff with India and other key events that took place in 2020.

The report said that China has tried to blame India for the border tensions.