January 21, 2013 china-defense-mashup.com
2013-01-20 — A Chinese expert has advised the government to increase supervision on its border with India after New Delhi’s decision to form a new mountain strike corps for the 3,380km-long border that the two countries share in total.
Reacting to a news report in The Times of India, Fu Xiaoqiang, researcher from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said, “China should strengthen its supervision and control over the border area with India.”
The formation of a new corps shows India sees China as its military competitor, Fu was quoted by Beijing-based newspaper the Global Times.
The TOI report said that the new corps, having around 40,000 soldiers, will be formed during India’s 12th Five-Year Plan from 2012 to 2017, at an estimated cost of 810 billion rupees ($14.9 billion). The idea is to build the capability of launching counter-offensives into the Tibet Autonomous Region against potential “Chinese attacks.”
However, Fu felt the Indian proposal has little relation to a military exercise carried out by the Chinese air force over the Tibet Autonomous Region in December. It is part of India’s overall plan to strengthen its military power along its border with China, he said.
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