The defence ministry has cleared the decks for the deployment of two additional Indian Army mountain infantry divisions in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh besides raising two battalions of Arunachal and Sikkim Scouts to counter a possible Chinese offensive on the Sino-Indian border.
Disclosing that the state government has already allotted the land for infrastructure, security sources told this newspaper the MoD has also started the process of raising two battalions of scouts besides intensifying the construction of seven forward landing airstrips in Arunachal Pradesh. A delegation of Congress leaders from the state were informed of this by the Prime Minister when they called on him Friday.
The proposed Arunachal and Sikkim Scouts’ battalions will be raised on the pattern of the Ladakh Scouts, which played a stellar role in dislodging Pakistani intruders during the 1999 Kargil conflict. The Army intends to enrol people from high-altitude areas who are better adapted to the rigours of the Sino-India border. The divisions will mostly comprise mountain infantry elements, but some armoured assets will also be included later, sources said.