New battalions for ITBP Likely

NEW DELHI: The process of authorising new battalions of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), in charge of securing the Indo-China border, is in the final stages and the government is committed to providing it with full logistical support and modern gadgets to do its job, junior Union home minister Nityanand Rai said on Sunday.

Addressing the 60th Raising Day event of the mountain-warfare-trained ITBP, Rai said the government had last year sanctioned 47 new border posts and a dozen staging camps (operational bases for troops undertaking border patrol) to the force. “Deliberations for providing new manpower and battalions for the ITBP are in the last stages,” he revealed. A PTI report quoting officials said the force is expected to get a sanction of seven new battalions comprising about 8,000 personnel for its new border posts that will mainly come up in the Arunachal Pradesh sector of the LAC on India’s eastern flank.
The proposal for sanctioning new ITBP battalions and a sector headquarter in the northeast has been under the consideration of the home ministry for a couple of years now. After last year’s sanction of the new border outposts and staging camps, the proposal is expected to get approval soon.
Rai lauded the ITBP for their bravery and for giving a “befitting reply” to their opponents during the clashes between Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh last year.

He also decorated 20 ITBP officers with police medals for gallantry awarded to them on Independence Day this year, for displaying courage during the clashes and resisting the incursion attempts.

Source: TOI