Civil 'guardians': China quietly builds villages near border with India, other countries to press territorial claims

India, meanwhile, has launched its own initiative dubbed "Vibrant Villages Programme."

On a once empty land nestled deep within the Himalayas, Chinese officials built 'Qionglin New Village' and paid people to move there from other settlements, according to a report by The New York Times. It lies a mere three miles from a contentious zone.

This nearby area has become a flashpoint of tension, with substantial military deployments and confrontations between Chinese and Indian forces fueling apprehensions of an impending border conflict.

Xi Jinping, the President of China, calls people living in these areas as "border guardians". The villagers of Qionglin serve as de facto guardians on the periphery of China's territorial assertion over Arunachal Pradesh, India's easternmost state, the NYT report added.

Qionglin is only one of many such villages that have surfaced recently.

The New York Times conducted a comprehensive mapping and analysis of settlements along China's border to create the first detailed visual depiction of how China has strategically transformed its frontier regions through the establishment of civilian outposts.

"The mapping reveals that China has put at least one village near every accessible Himalayan pass that borders India, as well as on most of the passes bordering Bhutan and Nepal," according to Matthew Akester, an independent researcher on Tibet, and Robert Barnett, a professor from SOAS University of London, reported NYT.

These civilian settlements serve a dual purpose. They provide critical infrastructure -- roads, internet connectivity, and electricity -- that could facilitate rapid military deployment to the border if needed. Additionally, the villagers act as eyes and ears in these remote regions, deterring intrusions and potential defectors.

India, meanwhile, has launched its own initiative dubbed "Vibrant Villages Programme." This program seeks to reinvigorate hundreds of settlements along the frontier.

Last year, the government had approved Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) as a centrally sponsored scheme for comprehensive development of select villages in 46 blocks in 19 districts of abutting northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and UT of Ladakh.

Last month, Union home minister Amit Shah reviewed the implementation of the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' at a high-level meeting in the national capital and stressed the need to provide employment opportunities to local residents as well as increase connectivity to prevent migration from border villages.

Amit Shah further emphasized that the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Army deployed around the border villages should encourage the purchase of local agricultural and handicraft products through cooperatives, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement.