The Congress party  took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a Pentagon report that China has built a large village near Arunachal Pradesh.

“PM Modi have you permanently closed your “laal ankh”?” the Congress tweeted, tagging a report claiming that China has built a large village in a disputed area in Arunachal Pradesh.

In a major report on China’s military modernisation, the Pentagon said that China has been taking “incremental and tactical actions” to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.

“Beginning in May 2020, the Chinese Army launched incursions into customarily Indian-controlled territory across the border and has concentrated troops at several standoff locations along the LAC,” the report said.

It further said despite the ongoing diplomatic and military dialogues to resolve border tensions, China has continued “taking incremental and tactical actions” to press its claims at the LAC.

The Pentagon also claimed that China built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the Chinese Tibet Autonomous Region and Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern sector of the LAC last year.

“These and other infrastructure development efforts along India-China have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media,” the Pentagon said.

India and China have been locked in a border dispute since May last year following a violent face-off in eastern Ladakh. The tension flared up on June 15 last year when the two sides engaged in a deadly clash in Galwan Valley.

So far, the two countries have held several rounds of talks on military and diplomatic levels but failed to reach a consensus to end the stalemate.

The two sides completed the disengagement process in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in February and in the Gogra area in August.