Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday, 29 October 2026, acknowledged that transgressions occur along the India-China frontier but said the situation in the state’s border areas was normal. His remarks came days after the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) director general disclosed that Indian and Chinese troops had faced each other at several locations in the state.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Tourism Mart in Tawang, Khandu attributed the recurring incidents to the unresolved boundary and China’s rejection of the McMahon Line. He said the frontier had not been demarcated and that patrolling parties from both sides sometimes crossed into areas claimed by the other.
“No doubt transgression has happened. It keeps happening. It is nothing new since the border is not defined. The situation is quite normal now and our Armed Forces are guarding the border very well,” Khandu said.
The chief minister said Arunachal Pradesh shares a long boundary with Tibet and that China does not recognise the McMahon Line, which India treats as the de facto boundary in the eastern sector. Beijing argues that Tibet did not have the authority to enter into the 1914 agreement from which the line derives.
Face-offs reported at several locations
On 22 October, ITBP Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said a face-off had taken place at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh and was still continuing. He was speaking in Alwar, Rajasthan, while describing the work of newly raised Shaurya Commando teams. Kapur’s comments prompted the Congress to seek immediate answers from the government.
The Ministry of External Affairs subsequently said that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns. India and China held Corps Commander-level talks in September at the Wacha-Damai border meeting point amid reports of tension in the Taksing area of Upper Subansiri district.
- Indian position: the MEA said disruptions occur when Chinese forces depart from established patrolling patterns.
- State government position: Pema Khandu described the incidents as recurring transgressions rather than a new development and said the present situation was normal.
- Operational context: the ITBP said face-offs had occurred at several locations and that its Shaurya Commando teams had played an exemplary role.
Wacha, located in the Kibithoo sector, is India’s easternmost border personnel meeting point. The September military-level engagement indicates that talks between the two sides are continuing even as differing perceptions of the LAC create the possibility of patrol confrontations. Khandu did not identify a particular incident while responding to questions about the recent remarks.
The chief minister also said that Indian armed forces were guarding the frontier effectively and rejected the suggestion that the reported controversy represented a current crisis in the state. His comments place the latest disclosures in the wider context of an undemarcated boundary, competing claims and continuing military and diplomatic mechanisms for managing incidents along the LAC.
