As the majority of Han Chinese struggle with the high altitudes of Tibet and Eastern Ladakh, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has now started to recruit local, unemployed youth in Tibet to form a “volunteer militia” in areas across the border from the Yadong county, located opposite Sikkim, intelligence reports have suggested.
The Indian military and intelligence agencies are as of now keeping an eye on this new development.
India’s border with China is 3,488-km long and it runs from Ladakh at one end to Arunachal Pradesh. This drive to get the locals is clearly to fill its gaps when it comes to high altitude warfare.
As per reports, the PLA is recruiting unemployed youths who will be sent to police and PLA centres for training and subsequent employment once the indoctrination is completed.
President Xi Jinping in 2013 had said, “To govern the country well we must first govern the frontiers well, and to govern the frontiers well we must first ensure stability in Tibet,”.
Once these locals are complete their training they could be deployed as reinforcements for the regular Chinese army units to keep a watch on border residents at the LAC and gather intelligence.
China is also trying to create a force modeled like the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Special Frontier Force (SFF) with men recruited from Tibet Autonomous Region and create a Special Tibetan Army Unit.
Lt Gen. S.L. Narasimhan (Retd), who is a member of the National Security Advisory Board, said “Firstly, the border areas are well held in that sector by troops on our side, so it is not easy for anyone to come across and gain access to our side. In a few areas, where the troops may not be manning right up to the LAC, the terrain is so rugged that it would not help in any kind of intel gathering,”.
“In the 1954 agreement on trade with Tibet, it was mentioned that the Tibetan Autonomous Region is a part of China. So, if China is recruiting Tibetan youth in the area, it is their decision. We have to maintain a constant watch along the LAC,” he said.
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