To counter China's buildup, India to move strategic ITBP unit to Leh

New Delhi: Amid growing concerns over the Chinese military buildup along the eastern flank of the country, the government has ordered moving a strategic ITBP command from its current base in Chandigarh by over 960 km to the border of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said Thursday.

The North West (NW) frontier of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), tasked to guard the 3,488-km long Sino-India border in peace times, is headed by an Inspector General (IG) of police-rank officer, which is equivalent to a Major General rank in the Army.

The frontier, according to documents accessed by PTI, has been ordered to move 'lock, stock, and barrel' by March-end and will have to be operationalised at the new location from April 1. The Leh district in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir is the base for the 14 Corps of the Army that is headed by a Lt General-rank officer and the new shift will allow a better interaction between the two forces "for strategic and defence planning", official sources said.

The Army, which carved out a separate Corps in Leh after Jammu and Srinagar following the Kargil intrusion in 1999, has been demanding operational control over the ITBP, a proposal rejected by the government time and again.

Having the ITBP and the Army at the same operational location will resolve these issues as well, the sources said.

ITBP Director General (DG) S S Deswal confirmed the move to the news agency, saying the new frontier will be moved from Chandigarh to Leh and will be made operational from April this year.

"We have to be on the border and that is why the frontier is being sent to the forward area," the DG said.

The Union home ministry had first mooted the proposal for this strategic move in 2015 but it did not materialise owing to some "administrative reasons". As per the blueprint of deployment approved by the government for the ITBP, the Leh frontier of the border guarding force will have three sectors that will be based in Leh, Srinagar and Chandigarh and each of these will be headed by a Deputy IG-rank officer. The ITBP, at present, has about half a dozen battalions deployed along the Chinese border that runs along Jammu and Kashmir and official sources said once the frontier starts operating from its new base in Leh, it will oversee the induction of more battalions that the force is inducting to enhance its presence on this icy, blizzard-prone mountainous border. The ITBP has recently inducted a mechanised column of vehicles and communication equipment and all the weapons, artillery and combat paraphernalia will now be moved to Leh, that has both road and air connectivity.