China has been accused of new land grabs in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, including blocking Indian troops from several key border patrol posts, according to a fact-finding team from a regional political party allied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The issue has sparked a political debate in New Delhi, with the opposition alleging that the Modi government has remained silent on China’s alleged land grabs in various border areas in recent years.
The allegations are centered in the remote and mountainous Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. There are fears that the new information could have an impact on the recent warming of relations between India and China.
India and China are long-standing rivals. The two countries also fought a war in 1962. US President Donald Trump’s trade war has targeted both India and China. The BRICS summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13. Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit India. The allegations about the new border came to light a few weeks ago.
What did the investigation team find?
The People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) in Arunachal Pradesh sent a four-member investigation team to the remote area based on initial reports of alleged Chinese land grabs.
PPA Vice President Kaling Jerang told Al Jazeera this information.
The PPA is part of the North East Democratic Alliance, a BJP-led alliance in the northeast. There is also a BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh.
The investigation team’s report said that due to bad weather, Indian troops are unable to conduct regular patrols in the Taksing area of ​​Arunachal Pradesh from April to October. During this period, flash floods, heavy pre-monsoon and monsoon rains, and landslides occur.
On the other hand, the report claims that Chinese forces are active in the border area during this time, raising questions about the preparedness of Indian border infrastructure to deal with a possible invasion.
The Jerang report also said that local residents told the investigation team that Indian forces left a border patrol point called Shera-5 after a clash with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2023.
Jerang said there is anger among local residents over alleged Chinese encroachment, who are also accused of losing control of areas where their ancestors hunted.
According to Jerang, there is no way to deny the information about these infiltrations.
He claims that China’s alleged land grab was not sudden. It has been spreading slowly over the years.
He alleged that the BJP governments in New Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh have turned their backs on the people of the border.
Earlier last month, a local tribal organization, the Nah Welfare Society (NWS), wrote to government officials, alleging that China’s alleged intrusion to grab as much land as possible has increased manifold.
India and China’s response
The Indian Army has dismissed reports of alleged land grabbing by Chinese forces as baseless. The army said the reports were “false and baseless”.
However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs did not directly deny the matter.
“India has always insisted on dialogue with China as border issues are very important,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters. He said maintaining peace and stability in the border areas is also very important.
Jaiswal also said that the border situation will affect the overall bilateral relations between the two countries.
China has neither confirmed nor denied the new allegations of border tensions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun said that the current Sino-Indian border situation is relatively stable.
He said that last week, the two countries held their 36th meeting on border issues. The two sides agreed to maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels. They also talked about jointly maintaining peace and stability in the border areas.
History of border disputes
India and China have a long-standing border dispute, which is at the heart of major differences in the relationship between the two countries.
British rule played a significant role in the history of this conflict. In 1914, British India and Tibet signed the Simla Convention. At that time, Tibet was not under Chinese control. The agreement established a boundary called the McMahon Line.
Henry McMahon, the then Foreign Secretary of British India, was the chief negotiator of this treaty.
After independence in 1947, India considered the McMahon Line as its border with China. But after the establishment of communist rule in 1949, China rejected this boundary. Beijing argues that China did not participate in the negotiations of the Simla Convention.
China also claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh. It refers to the region as ‘Southern Tibet’ or ‘Zangnan’. In addition, the disputed Aksai Chin region of Kashmir is under Chinese control. India and Pakistan claim the entire Kashmir.
After the 1962 war, India and China considered the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as a de facto border to define the areas under their control. At the same time, negotiations were to continue to resolve the larger border dispute.
However, the two countries have not yet agreed on the location of the Line of Actual Control, said BR Deepak, professor of Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
According to him, India and China have different claims on where the actual line of control is in different areas. As a result, patrols from both countries can enter areas that the other country claims as its territory.
India-China face off again and again
Indian and Chinese troops have clashed several times in recent years in the mountainous region of Ladakh, on the western side of the border.
In June 2020, there was a clash between the armies of the two countries in Galwan, Ladakh. At least 20 Indian and 4 Chinese soldiers were killed.
There is also tension in the eastern region. This part includes India’s Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. In May 2020, there was a clash between the troops of the two countries in the Naku La area of ​​Sikkim. There was another clash there in January 2021.
In the central part of the border, there are small-scale disputes between the two countries in the Barahoti area of ​​Uttarakhand and Shipki La area of ​​Himachal Pradesh.
There was also a major standoff at the Doklam plateau, which borders India, China and Bhutan. In 2017, China brought heavy road construction equipment there. It is alleged that they tried to extend a military road southwards. This led to a tense 73-day standoff between China and Indian troops.
Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Deepak said, “There is always a risk that a small incident on the border can escalate into a major tension. Such a situation has been seen in incidents like Galwan in the past.”
Trade has increased, but mistrust has not disappeared
Despite border tensions, bilateral trade between India and China has increased over the past decade.
According to the Indian Embassy in Beijing, the volume of trade in goods between the two countries was $151.1 billion in the fiscal year 2025-26. In the fiscal year 2016-17, this amount was $71.45 billion. That is, it has more than doubled in a decade.
However, a large part of this trade is dependent on India’s imports from China. In the 2016-17 fiscal year, India’s imports from China were $61.28 billion. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, it increased to $131.63 billion.
On the other hand, during the same period, not China’s exports to India, but India’s exports to China increased from $10.17 billion to $19.47 billion.
The US Trump administration has recently identified India as a front-runner in a “shadow transshipment network” that the US alleges allows China to evade US sanctions and tariffs.
Saheli Chatterjee, assistant professor of Chinese relations at Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai, said that improving diplomatic and commercial relations, despite border disputes, is an important feature of India-China relations.
According to him, even if the border dispute is not resolved, economic and diplomatic ties can increase. It is better to view India-China relations as ‘controlled competition’ rather than a truly normal relationship.
According to Chatterjee, China’s behavior can be seen as a way to maintain its advantageous position in the balance of power along the disputed border. Through this, they want to convey to India that despite the improvement in bilateral relations, there has been no fundamental change in the strategic balance of power.
Praveen Dondhi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, also believes that India and China will remain rivals in the long term.
According to him, this unresolved dispute will haunt the relations between the two countries until the border dispute is resolved.
