58.182.176.169 at 14:45, 3 July 2021

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{{Short description|Forested area along the China-India border}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Asaphila
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = 
| settlement_type = Forest
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| etymology =
| nickname =
| pushpin_map = India Arunachal Pradesh#India#Tibet
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|28.43|93.17|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = [[India]], [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet region of China]]
| subdivision_type1 = State/Prefecture
| subdivision_name1 = [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Shannan Prefecture]]
| subdivision_type2 = Subdivision
| subdivision_name2 = [[Upper Subansiri district|Upper Subansiri]], [[Lhünzê County]]
| subdivision_type3 =
| subdivision_name3 =
| website = 
}}
'''Asaphila''' or '''Asafila'''{{efn|Variations on the spelling include '''Ashafila''',<ref>[https://www.eastmojo.com/arunachal-pradesh/2020/06/24/how-much-land-did-arunachal-pradesh-lose-to-china-after-1962-war How much land did Arunachal Pradesh lose to China after 1962 war?], EastMojo, 24 June 2020.</ref> '''Asaphi La''',<ref>{{citation |last=Bajwa |first=Lt Gen JS |title=CHINA: Threat or Challenge? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cojkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT156 |year=2017 |publisher=Lancer Publishers LLC |isbn=978-1-940988-29-0}}</ref> and '''Asa-Pila-Maya'''.<ref>[https://www.deccanchronicle.com/141027/nation-current-affairs/article/chinese-peoples-liberation-army-now-targets-taksing-zone Chinese PLA now targets Taksing zone in Arunachal Pradesh], Deccan Chronicle, 27 October 2014.</ref>}}
is a mountainous forest area near the [[China–India border]] along the [[Subansiri River]] valley.<ref name=Malik/> It is at the southwestern corner of the [[Dakpa Sheri|Tsari region]], straddling [[Lhünzê County]] in the [[Shannan, Tibet|Shannan Prefecture]] of Tibet, and the [[Taksing Circle]] in the [[Upper Subansiri district]] of [[Arunachal Pradesh]], India. Occasional border disputes between the two countries in the region are reported.<ref name=Stimson>Travis Wheeler, [https://www.stimson.org/2019/clarify-and-respect-line-actual-control/ Clarify and Respect the Line of Actual Control], Stimson Center, 10 May 2019. Note 56.</ref>

== Description ==
According to former Indian Army chief [[Ved Prakash Malik|V. P. Malik]], Asaphila is a 100 sq km of densely forested mountainous area to the west of the town of [[Taksing]] in Arunachal Pradesh. It spans both sides of the [[Line of Actual Control]] in Tibet and India, including the valleys of [[Subansiri River]] (called Chayul Chu in Tibet) and [[Yume Chu]]. It is sparsely populated. Only foot tracks are available for movement in the area.<ref name="Malik">{{Cite web |last=Malik |first=General (Retd) V. P. |date=12 August 2003 |title=Sino-Indian Asaphila Patrolling Face-off |url=https://www.orfonline.org/research/sino-indian-asaphila-patrolling-face-off/ |access-date=2021-02-10 |website=Observer Research Foundation}}</ref>

The nearest [[India-China Border Roads|road link on the Indian side]] is at [[Taksing]], for which the Indian [[Border Roads Organisation]] laid a road by 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |title=BRO extends road connectivity upto Taksing in China border |work=The Economic Times |agency=PTI |date=17 May 2018 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/bro-extends-road-connectivity-upto-taksing-in-china-border/articleshow/64206177.cms}}</ref>

China has built a trunk road{{efn|The trunk road is labelled as "G219" on OpenStreetMap. Evidently, it is separate from the [[China National Highway 219]] in western Tibet.}} which circles around the Tsari region, passing by the village of [[Lung, Tibet|Lung]] in the Subansiri valley, and through [[Charme, Tibet|Charme]], [[Chösam]] and [[Migyitun]]. Link roads to [[Lung, Tibet|Lung]] and [[Yümai|Yume]] also exist, but they have not yet been extended up to the border with India.<ref>[https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/12302649#map=10/28.5053/93.3472&layers=C Chinese Trunk Road (G219) in the vicinity of Asaphila], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 11 February 2021.</ref>

== History ==
=== Sino-Indian War ===
During the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]], 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]], which was deployed in the area, suffered 18 casualties included a [[junior commissioned officer|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]] valley to withdraw to [[Taliha]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sandhu |first1=P. J. S. |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=boBNCgAAQBAJ |title=1962: A View from the Other Side of the Hill |last2=Shankar |first2=Vinay |last3=Dwivedi |first3=G. G. |date=2015-08-06 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-93-84464-37-0 |pages=110}}</ref>

After the war, the Chinese withdrew to their previous positions, except that they retained possession of the [[Longju]] area in the Tsari Chu valley.

=== Border incidents ===
Reports of [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] intrusions in the Asaphila area have been reported in 2003 and 2005.<ref>
{{Cite web |last=Rajan |first=D.S. |title=Will Chinese Intrusions into India's Borders Ever End? |url=https://www.c3sindia.org/archives/will-chinese-intrusions-into-indias-borders-ever-end-by-d-s-rajan/ |website=Chennai Centre for China Studies |date=March 2015}}
</ref> In 2003, a Chinese patrol disarmed an Indian non-military patrol in the area.<ref name="Malik" /> In May 2012 thirty soldiers of the [[People's Liberation Army]] entered Asaphila and destroyed an Indian patrol hut.<ref>
{{Cite web |last=Shukla |first=Saurabh |title=Growing intrusion by the Chinese army on the LAC has set the alarm bells ringing in South Block. Can the Indian Army maintain restrain? |website=India Today |date=17 October 2012 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/sino-indian-border-dispute-chinese-army-intrusions-118767-2012-10-16}}
</ref> In 2014, Indian soldiers blocked Chinese road construction in the area.<ref>
{{Cite book |last=Kumar |first=Satish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzIlDwAAQBAJ |title=India's National Security: Annual Review 2015–16 |date=2016-10-04 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-315-39011-6 |pages=77 |chapter=2 (ii)}}
</ref> In 2018 China accused India of large scale transgressions into Asaphila.<ref>
{{Cite web |date=2018-04-08 |title=Indian Army rejects China's accusations of 'transgression' in Arunachal, says it would continue patrols up to LAC |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/china-objects-to-indias-transgression-in-arunachal-pradesh-india-rejects-protest-5128733/ |access-date=2021-02-10 |website=The Indian Express}}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite web |title=China Objects to 'Transgression' in Arunachal's Asaphila; That's Our Area, Says India |website=News18 |date=2018-04-08 |others=PTI |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/china-objects-to-transgression-in-arunachals-asaphila-thats-our-area-says-india-1711735.html}}
</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== 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}}
* [http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2019-02/13/content_9425840.htm Soldiers patrol in Asaphila area]. China Military Online.

[[Category:China–India border]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of India]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of China]]

Asaphila - Revision history

58.182.176.169 at 14:45, 3 July 2021