Asaphila or Asafila is a mountainous forest area near the

China–India border The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment of ...

along the

Subansiri River The Subansiri River; is a trans- Himalayan river and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet's Lhünzê County, Shannan Prefecture and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Subansiri is long, with a drain ...

valley. It is at the southwestern corner of the Tsari region, straddling

Lhünzê County Lhünzê County, (; , English: Lhöntse Dzong) is a county of Shannan located in the south-east of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Part of Lhünzê County is claimed by India as part of Arunachal Pradesh, which is a disputed area between People's Re ...

in the

Shannan Prefecture ShannanThe official spelling according to (), also romanized from Tibetan as Lhoka (; ), is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shannan includes Gonggar County within its jurisdiction with Gongkar Chö Mo ...

of Tibet, and the Taksing Circle in the Upper Subansiri district of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...

, India. Occasional border disputes between the two countries in the region are reported.Travis Wheeler
Clarify and Respect the Line of Actual Control
Stimson Center, 10 May 2019. Note 56.

Description

According to former Indian Army chief V. P. Malik, Asaphila is a 100 km² of densely forested mountainous area to the west of the town of

Taksing Taksing is a village and headquarters of an eponymous Circle in the Upper Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The region of Taksing is populated by Tagin people. The village is on the bank of the Subansiri River, shortly after the r ...

in Arunachal Pradesh. It spans both sides of the

Line of Actual Control The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...

in Tibet and India, including the valleys of

(called Chayul Chu in Tibet) and

Yume Chu Yume or Yümé, also spelt Yümai (), is a township in the Lhuntse County in Tibet region of China. Yume is on the bank of the Yume Chu river, a tributary of the Subansiri River, which it joins the China–India border close to Taksing. The tow ...

. It is sparsely populated. Only foot tracks are available for movement in the area. The nearest road link on the Indian side is at

, for which the Indian

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring ...

laid a road by 2018. China has built a trunk road which circles around the Tsari region, passing by the village of Lung in the Subansiri valley, and through Charme, Chösam and

Migyitun Migyitun (), also called Tsari or Zhari (), is a town in the Lhöntse County of Tibet's Shannan Prefecture. It is on the banks of the Tsari Chu river close to the McMahon Line, the ''de facto'' border with India's Arunachal Pradesh. It is al ...

. Link roads to Lung and

Yume is the Japanese word for dream, and may refer to: People *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese actress *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese gravure idol and actress *, Japanese professional footballer Entertainment * YuMe, a multi ...

also exist, but they have not yet been extended up to the border with India.

History

Sino-Indian War

During the 1962

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

, the Chinese attacked the Indian border posts in the area with a battalion of troops. A post in Asaphila, and others at Shagam La, Tama La and Potrang came under attack on 23 October 1962. The 2nd battalion of

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, ...

, which was deployed in the area, suffered 18 casualties included a JCO. As a result, on 26 October, the Indian headquarters ordered all the border posts from the Subansiri valley as well as the

Tsari Chu The Subansiri River; is a trans- Himalayan river and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet's Lhünzê County, Shannan Prefecture and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Subansiri is long, with a drain ...

valley to withdraw to

Taliha Taliha is a village in the Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh state of India. It is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. Name of current MLA (September-2016) of this constituency is Punji Mara. ...

. After the war, the Chinese withdrew to their previous positions, except that they retained possession of the

Longju Longju or Longzu () is a disputed area in the eastern sector of the China–India border, controlled by China but claimed by India. The village of Longju is located in the Tsari Chu valley south of the town of Migyitun, considered the histori ...

area in the Tsari Chu valley.

Border incidents

Reports of PLA intrusions in the Asaphila area have been reported in 2003 and 2005. In 2003, a Chinese patrol disarmed an Indian non-military patrol in the area. In May 2012 thirty soldiers of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

entered Asaphila and destroyed an Indian patrol hut. In 2014, Indian soldiers blocked Chinese road construction in the area. In 2018 China accused India of large scale transgressions into Asaphila.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Cite news, last=Bhattacharya, first=Rajeev, title=The Border Villages of Arunachal Pradesh: A Story of Neglect, url=https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/the-border-villages-of-arunachal-pradesh-a-story-of-neglect, website=The Caravan, date=8 December 2015
Soldiers patrol in Asaphila area
China Military Online. Territorial disputes of India Territorial disputes of China Borders of Arunachal Pradesh