Chinese incursion not a serious issue: Parrikar
PTI, PANAJI | 13 November 2014 19:24 IST
Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said reported incursions by China into Arunachal Pradesh were "not serious" and being effectively tackled by Army on day-to-day basis even as he underlined the need to set up infrastructural back up to handle "these kind of problems".
"Chinese intrusion is not a serious issue. It is a serious issue for media. The incidents of incursions by China are a small issue that is being tackled by Army chief or the concerned commander in that area," Parrikar told reporters at a press conference in Panaji on his first visit to his home state after taking charge as Defence minister.
Parrikar said there are large tracts of land along the imaginary border and many a times the forces cross it.
"The issue should be considered as serious when they (China) set up their camps in our territory," he said.
Parrikar said the incursions like the one reported in Arunachal Pradesh "happen many a times in many sectors and are tackled within a day or couple of days."
"It is not correct to call them as major intrusions. They are breach of LAC," he added.
Interestingly, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had last month denied any incursion by China's People's Liberation Army in Taksing area of Arunachal Pradesh in recent times.
"It is a natural phenomenon as troops from both the sides usually trespass into each other's territory by mistake as there is no definite demarcation of the border," he had said.
"We have to make sure that no one should dare to fire at the Line of Control. Intrusions keep on happening, but we have to ensure that they don't happen. We have to see our preparedness," Parrikar said.
Parrikar said he had been briefed daily by the Army chief on various issues.
To a query, he said the issues of technical snags in fighter planes, resulting in their crash, are largely resolved.
"There are no incidents reported in the 2014 of plane crashes. There were some issues in past but they are sorted out," Parrikar stated.
"Sometimes in a fighter plane, the pilot, while doing difficult manoeuvres, crashes the plane as he is not trained for it," he said.
Union government will promote Indian companies, except for exceptionally sophisticated defence equipment, Parrikar said in response to a query.
