Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Friday said there were two reports of transgression by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Arunachal Pradesh recently, PTI reported. The first transgression was reported in Kibithu area in the remote Anjaw district on July 22, while the second took place in Thangsa, Tawang district, in the same month, Rijiju told reporters after inaugurating an advanced landing ground at Pasighat, where fighter jets can land and take off.

While stopping short of describing the incidents as acts of incursion, the minister said, "We cannot term it as incursion, but transgression, as the Chinese army just crossed the perceived area along the Line of Actual Control."

When the matter was reported from Kibithu by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Centre confirmed it as an act of transgression. Replying to queries about India matching Chinese infrastructure development along the Sino-India border, Rijiju said the government had begun strengthening infrastructure in the region, and the Pasighat advance landing ground was a step in that direction.

The minister of state said, "We are not challenging or competing with any other country by strengthening our border infrastructure. We will have to build robust infrastructure to strengthen our defence, and whatever we did is because India is an emerging power with capability." Rijiju added that the Indian Air Force thus needed operational bases in all border states.