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By Micah McCartney
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Images have surfaced on social media appearing to show Chinese troops' activities within a territory administered by India but claimed by Beijing.
The recent photos, shared by NewsFy, a news outlet based in Arunachal's capital, Itanagar, show remnants of campfires, discarded cans, and food packaging, along with graffiti in the Kapapu area of Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district.
The region is one of the most hotly contested areas in the India-China border dispute, which traces its roots back to the British colonial era. The 1962 Sino-Indian war, sparked by these border disputes, saw China temporarily advance into Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, another disputed region further west.
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It would not be the first time troops strayed across the Line of Actual Control, a de facto established after the 1962 conflict. The boundary runs through various disputed regions and is not always clearly delineated.
The Indian and Chinese foreign ministries did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.
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The media outlet cited sources saying the People's Liberation Army troops had ventured at least 60 kilometers (37 miles) into Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern Indian state that China calls "South Tibet."
The graffiti reportedly included the word "China" in both English and Chinese characters, alongside the year 2024—a clear indication of the incursion's recent occurrence. The images also featured a five-pointed star, a symbol commonly associated with the Chinese Communist Party.
Sources cited by the news portal estimated the site had been abandoned about a week before the discovery.
Indian Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday pointed out that the painted markings do not equate to encroachment.
"Overlapping of patrolling does take place in the undemarcated areas. They (Chinese) are not allowed to construct anything permanent. There is strict vigil from our side," local media quoted him as saying.
Tensions between China and India soared in 2020 when a deadly melee in Galwan Valley, in India's sparsely populated Ladakh region, resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops.
Subsequent hand-to-hand clashes took place along the border in 2021 and 2022, though no fatalities were reported. Both countries responded by deploying significant numbers of troops and weapons platforms to border regions and building infrastructure to enhance military mobility.
Since the Galwan incident, China and India have held 21 rounds of commander-level talks, and the neighbors have made some progress in walking back tensions at hotspots along the border.
Since 2021, the U.S. State Department has explicitly supported India's claim over Arunachal Pradesh amid efforts by Washington and New Delhi to strengthen ties to respond to China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press conference earlier this year.
Update 9/13/24, 1:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with extra context.
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