Guwahati: A political controversy erupted on Friday after a video of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Shatrujeet Kapur referring to an ongoing face-off at multiple locations in Arunachal Pradesh surfaced online, prompting the Congress to accuse the Narendra Modi government of remaining silent on the issue.
The ITBP, which guards and patrols the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, posted footage of Kapur’s remarks on social media late Thursday before deleting it. The comments were made during a felicitation ceremony for troops in Alwar, Rajasthan, on Thursday.
“There was a situation in Arunachal Pradesh where there was a face-off at different locations, which is still continuing,” Kapur said, according to a video clip circulating online. “There our Shaurya commando teams did really exceedingly well.”
Kapur did not explicitly identify the opposing side involved in the reported face-off.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised the government over the remarks, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making concessions to China and questioning its response to reports of clashes along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
In a post on X, Ramesh said Kapur had praised the force’s performance during recent clashes with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) inside Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh. He described the remarks as justified but accused the government of remaining silent on the issue.
Ramesh also questioned what he called the government’s “softness toward China” and India’s growing economic dependence on its neighbour.
There was no immediate response from the government or the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the allegations.
Reports since July have pointed to a possible standoff involving Chinese troops in the remote Taksin area of Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh.
Asked about the situation at a press conference in August, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the state of border affairs had implications for overall India-China relations. He said the two countries had agreed to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations along the border.
The latest controversy comes as New Delhi and Beijing seek to stabilise relations following years of military tensions. The two countries reached an understanding in October 2024 to end a prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh that had severely strained bilateral ties.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India in September for the BRICS summit and held talks with Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar subsequently said in New York that India-China relations were in a better position than they had been a few years earlier.
The Congress has repeatedly criticised the government’s handling of relations with China, while the BJP has accused the opposition of politicising national security issues. The government has rejected allegations that it has compromised India’s territorial interests.
During his address to ITBP personnel in Alwar, Kapur also cautioned troops against excessive social media use, warning them about the risk of intelligence gathering by adversaries and the threat of online “honey traps”.
He advised personnel to exercise caution when sharing photographs or interacting with unfamiliar people online, saying even a single photograph could reveal information to hostile actors.
The ITBP, a central armed police force, is responsible for guarding India’s border with China across difficult high-altitude terrain.