Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday conferred special honors on a PLA battalion in the Tibetan region located closely to the disputed state of Arunachal Pradesh, Times of India reported.

According to Xinhua, Xi bestowed the honor on the PLA battalion for their outstanding performance in safeguarding the border areas and showing unflinching commitment during disaster relief efforts.

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Chinese state media has not identified the battalion. However, Indian defense officials claim the battalion is the Gangba 2nd Independent Battalion. The Battalion is located in Shigatse City, Gangba County in Tibet. The place is very close to the disputed state of Arunachal Pradesh in India.

The Chinese government claims that Arunachal Pradesh is part of Southern Tibet and does not recognize as part of the Indian union. The border dividing Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet is called Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has never been recognized as an official border by Beijing.            

The presence of President Xi near the Arunachal Pradesh border comes at a time that New Delhi is beefing up its military presence in the region. Last week, India inaugurated a new airfield at Pasighat town in south-east Arunachal Pradesh, located barely 100 kms from Indo-China border.       

India is reportedly planning to deploy the BrahMos cruise missile to the Arunachal Pradesh border. The news has already raised eye brows in Beijing, with the PLA's official mouthpiece warning that India's latest move poses a serious security threat to China's Tibet and Yunnan provinces.

India claims that its recent military buildup near Arunachal Pradesh is in response to China's increased military concentration across the border. China reportedly has 15 small to medium airfields and six battalions in Tibet.

Tagschina, Arunachal Pradesh, Xi Jinping, China and India