Guwahati, May 23
India has reiterated that it was not going to accept any Chinese claim over its territory in Sikkim or Arunachal Pradesh. “The country will not accept any Chinese claim over Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim. The Indian Army will continue to build up forces in Sikkim areas till there is a threat perception,” minister of state for defence M.M. Palam Raju said on the sidelines of a Defence Pension Adalat organised at the Army base here today.

He said the Indian Army would continue to increase its troops’ concentration in Sikkim till there is a threat. China has surprised India by its latest claim on a small tract of land called ‘Finger area’ in North Sikkim .

Regarding the dispute over the McMohan line that demarcates the boundary between Indian and China, the minister said, “McMohan Line was demarcated during the British era between India and the erstwhile Autonomous Region of Tibet. Now it is being disputed by China and India hasn’t agreed to it. Therefore, there are some areas of difference. That is why dialogue between the National Security Adviser (NSA) and his counterpart in Beijing is on to resolve the issue.”

The MoS stated that infiltration of anti-Indian elements through Bangladesh border posed threat to the internal security in the country. “Infiltration by anti-national elements through the porous border with Bangladesh is creating a threat to our country. The recent serial blasts that rattled Jaipur and Hyderabad are fallout of such infiltration,” he said.

He agreed that incomplete border fencing along some difficult stretches of India-Bangladesh border had abetted infiltration. He, however, asserted that the country was well equipped to deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, with the India’s flourishing corporate sector showing increasing interests in re-employment of ex-servicemen, the Defence Ministry has drawn up a plan for special training to increase the post-retirement employability of the ex-servicemen.

Raju said last year, the ministry had targeted for re-employment of about 40,000 ex-servicemen through special training and ended up finding jobs for 65,000. The country has over 20 lakh ex-servicemen, with 60,000 retiring annually.

He said the Director General of Resettlement (DGR) in the defence ministry was preparing a database of all ex-servicemen, with their special skills and all details, to identify them for suitable employment by the government as well as in the private sector.