“By and large the borders are peaceful. But it does not mean there aren’t some minor incidents depending on the perception,” said Mr. Antony who arrived here on Saturday along with Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and other senior officials for visiting forward areas including the Nathu La pass.

 The minister’s remarks come in the wake of reports of the Chinese army destroying two Indian unmanned fibreglass observation posts and possibly a bunker near Torsu Nalla on the strategic India-China-Bhutan tri-junction.

The posts were destroyed on November 8 though China raised objections about these posts in August arguing they fall within the Chinese territory.

 “The Sino-Indian border is a long one. They have their perception about the border. We have ours. As a result, sometimes some minor problems arise as borders are not settled. We try to sort out the problems through diplomatic channels and 11 rounds of border discussions have taken place,” Antony said. 

Different perceptions
 But he did not clarify whether the posts fall in Chinese territory occupied by India or if the posts are located within Bhutan and are maintained by the Indian army.

 Without categorically denying destruction of the observation posts, Mr Antony said there could always be some “isolated incidents due to different perceptions” but India was taking “all precautions to protect the national interest.”

“There is no dispute in Sikkim. But China claims various areas of Bhutan as theirs since 1989. There are also reports that China plans to extend railway lines to Chumbi valley, which is only 44 km away from the Siliguri corridor in north Bengal,” said Col Ajay Singh from the Gangtok-based 17 Mountain Division. Chumbi valley is close to the tri-junction where the destroyed posts were located.

 The defence minister too expressed his concerns about lack of infrastructure (road links) on the Indian side.