Himachal Police training force in Tibetan, Chinese language to bolster intelligence network

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Himachal Pradesh Police is giving training to its personnel in Tibetan and Chinese languages to strengthen the intelligence network in border areas along China, a police official said on Monday.

The knowledge of these languages would help the force to get a better in-depth understanding of the happenings at the border area, he said.
About 21,000 Tibetans are living in Himachal.

At least 48 Himachal villages are located near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) out of which 36 fall in Kinnaur which shares a 160-km border while the remaining 12 villages are in Lahaul and Spiti sharing an 80-km border with China.

Today the border is more secure as compared to 2020 as road infrastructure, air defence capabilities and central intelligence (Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Army) have improved and the communication network is being strengthened, officials said.

In 2020, air-space violations by People's Liberation Army (PLA) helicopters were reported on April 11 and 20 in Kaurik Sector followed by the Galwan incident on June 15 of the same year.

Himachal Pradesh Police had earlier sent a proposal to construct an airstrip at Rangrik, about 10 km from Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti district, and double-lane a few strategic roads, they said. DGP Sanjay Kundu said young and energetic police officers including SP, DSP and SHO are being posted in border areas as they are also prone to natural disasters.

The Himachal Pradesh Police had also sent a proposal for setting up three counter-espionage units and four new police posts in border areas of Chitkul, Namgya and Chango in Kinnaur and Sumdo in Lahaul and Spiti district, officials said.

The proposal was based on the report of five IPS officers who had visited the border villages for two weeks following the air-space violations and the Galwan incident, they said.

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One of the key findings of the team was that the villages were getting depopulated as a result of a lack of economic opportunities. Most of these villages had only elderly women left behind, they said.

On the other hand, China was building rapid infrastructure on their side and re-populating their border villages.

The police posts are required to check espionage and maintain surveillance over the increased activities of tourists, foreigners, traders and trackers, which become hectic in these places during the summer season, especially from May to October, said the proposal sent to the Union government by the Himachal government in September 2020.

The twin tribal districts of Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti share a 240-km border with China which is traversed by nine high altitude mountain passes.
There are several unmanned ingress points which can be misused by anti-national elements as some of the areas in the twin tribal districts remain cut off from the mainland during winters as locals migrate to lower areas with a fraction of the population staying behind and the area is left open for ingress without detection, officials said.

A police official said that the governor shared the key findings of the team with the Union government.
The Centre announced the Vibrant Villages Programmes in 2022 under which remote and isolated border villages in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts along the China border would be developed as livelihood-and-tourism-oriented, the official said.

After the construction of Atal Tunnel, a large number of tourists are travelling to border villages which are moving from isolation to economic activity, he said.

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