India facing new war paradigm on borders: Rahul Gandhi on China's infra ramp up

New Delhi: India is facing a new war paradigm on its borders and ignoring it won't work, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday, citing a media report on China ramping up its border infrastructure.

The former Congress chief's remarks came over a media report which quoted sources in the security establishment as saying that China appears to have built at least 10 new air bases along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh besides ramping up infrastructure close to the Indian frontier.

"We are facing a new war paradigm on our borders. Ignoring it won't work," Gandhi tweeted with a screenshot of the media report.

Gandhi has also repeatedly criticised the government for its handling of the border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries that erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the Gogra area last month. In February, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in line with an agreement on disengagement.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive sector.