Is China encroaching upon Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that a fact-finding team linked to the People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh, a regional ally of India’s ruling BJP, has alleged that Chinese forces have blocked Indian army access to key patrol points and taken over land in Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh. The report says the team visited remote border areas after initial claims of encroachment and found that Indian troops cannot patrol the Taksing area from about April to October because of severe weather and landslides, while Chinese forces remain active there year-round. It also says residents told the team that Indian forces had left Shera 5 after a 2023 confrontation with the People’s Liberation Army. Local groups in the area have also complained about loss of ancestral hunting grounds.

The claims have triggered political backlash in New Delhi, where opposition figures accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of staying silent on Chinese pressure along the border. India’s army rejected the media reports as baseless, while the foreign ministry used more cautious language, stressing the importance of peace and stability in border talks with Beijing. China did not directly address the allegations, saying the border situation is generally stable and that the two countries recently held a border affairs meeting.

The article places the dispute in the context of the long-running India-China border conflict, which includes competing claims over Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin and the undefined Line of Actual Control. It notes that tensions have repeatedly flared in places including Ladakh, Sikkim and Doklam, and warns that even small incidents can escalate quickly. In broader terms, the reporting matters because it comes amid an attempted thaw in ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and just before an expected BRICS meeting in India.