Exclusive: Army Mobilises Sappers, Engineers Along China Border

Sappers and engineers’ units have been made part of a mobilisation of 30,000-40,000 troops, revealed Army sources.

Besides infantry troops and artillery units of the Sukna-based 33 Corps, the Indian army has mobilised sappers and engineers from Panagarh in lower Bengal to bolster its presence along the India-China borders in Sikkim.

Army sources revealed to The Quint that the sappers and engineers' units have been made part of this massive mobilisation, comprising between 30,000-40,000 troops, for building bridges across mountainous streams in the higher reaches where the network of roads "may not be in the best of conditions in the monsoons".

Also Read: Army Moves Troops of Sukna-Based 33 Corps to India-China Border

While the movement of the 33 Corps, which is stationed at Sukna near Siliguri in West Bengal, has been in response to the Chinese People's Liberation Army's efforts to reinforce their side of the border in Tibet with bunkers and other fortifications, the larger objective is "defensive" and therefore part of a strategy to build a show of force in the face of "continuing Chinese statements and building of bunkers that have a military objective".

The Indian army as well as the Ministry of External Affairs has sought to keep the latest mobilisation of troops under wraps with the actual movement of troops carried out over the last 20-25 days being described as "trickle up" so as not to cause any alarm in the border regions.

The mobilisation is generally posturing but it does have a larger military and international objective.

Army Source

Also Read: China Steps up Troops Days After Reports of Indian Deployment

The troop movement from Sukna began about 20-25 days ago.

The deployment, according to sources, is taking place stealthily so as not to attract attention, either at the national or international level. This is being described as a “trickle up” method.

The standoff, one of the longest in the history of confrontations between the Indian Army and the PLA, is nowhere close to being resolved even after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s visit to Beijing last month, where he met his counterpart State Councilor Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of a BRICS nations’ meeting.