India has reacted after a US military report stated that China has constructed a massive 100-home civilian village along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Arunachal Pradesh. The US Department of Defense stated in its annual report to the Congress on military and security developments involving China that the village has come up in the disputed territory located between the Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh state.

Sources in the Indian security establishment Tuesday said that the village, located along the disputed border in the Upper Subansiri District, falls in territory controlled by China.

The sources stated, as per news agency ANI, that the territory has been under the control of China for decades.

“…For years, they’ve maintained an Army post in the region and various constructions undertaken by the Chinese haven’t happened in a short time.

“The village has been built by China in an area that was occupied by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after overrunning an Assam Rifles post in 1959, in an operation known as Longju incident along the frontier in Arunachal Pradesh,” the sources pointed out.

The US military report had pointed out that infrastructure development like the construction of the village along the India-China border has been a source of tension between the two neighbours.

The report specifically mentioned that China has tried to put the blame on India for triggering the standoff through its “increased infrastructure development” near the LAC.

Beijing has contended that the PLA deployments along the LAC have been triggered by Indian provocations.

“PRC (People’s Republic of China) officials, through official statements and state media, had also sought unsuccessfully to prevent India from deepening its relationship with the US during and subsequent to the standoff, while accusing India of being a mere ‘instrument’ of US policy in the region,” the report stated.