Face-Offs Along the Arunachal LAC: ITBP Chief on Drones and Underground Shelters
The Director General (head) of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said that face-offs with Chinese troops are still happening at several places along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
He said drones are the future of warfare and that India cannot face China with traditional weapons alone.
He said building underground shelters for troops is a priority, as part of the new style of border warfare where drones and long-range weapons can strike forward posts.
In August 2026, reports said ITBP was increasing its deployment along the Arunachal stretch of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after a rise in Chinese military activity there.
The Line of Actual Control (LAC): What It Is and Why It Differs from the LoC and the International Border
The Line of Actual Control is the line that separates areas held by India from areas held by China. It is not a border both countries have agreed on and marked on the ground. It only shows where each side's control stops today, and the two sides see it differently in many places. Face-offs happen when patrols from both sides reach the same area that each believes is its own.
The "face-offs at multiple locations" in Arunachal are a direct result of the LAC being undemarcated: both sides patrol up to where they think the line is. This is why the ITBP chief stressed constant presence and new surveillance tools in the eastern sector.
Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs): Structure and Role
Central Armed Police Forces are armed police forces of the Union government under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). They guard India's land borders in peacetime, protect key installations and help states keep law and order. They are not part of the Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence. The ITBP is the CAPF that guards the border with China.
As the force that holds forward posts along the LAC, ITBP is the one that first meets Chinese patrols in a face-off. Its chief's remarks show how the force is changing its methods for the eastern sector.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): Types, Uses and India's Drone Programme
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or drone, is an aircraft with no pilot on board. It is flown from the ground by remote control or follows a pre-set computer program. Armies and border forces use drones to watch the enemy, find targets and, in armed versions, strike them. Cheap drones have changed warfare because they can watch and attack forward posts without risking a pilot.
The ITBP chief's view that drones are the future of warfare reflects the lessons of recent conflicts. On the LAC, drones help a small force watch long, difficult stretches of mountain border, and underground shelters protect posts that enemy drones could spot.
- LAC length (India's figure): 3,488 km; three sectors: Western, Middle, Eastern
- Eastern sector boundary claimed by India: McMahon Line (Simla Convention, 1914)
- Yangtse (Tawang) clash: December 9, 2022
- ITBP raised: October 24, 1962; ITBP Force Act: 1992; entire India-China border since 2004
- ITBP posts: Karakoram Pass (Ladakh) to Jachep La (Arunachal Pradesh)
- ITBP is under the Ministry of Home Affairs
- Drone Rules, 2021: five weight classes from nano (up to 250 g) to large (above 150 kg)