Taking forward its intention to avoid any skirmish at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) is not only making its men well-versed in Mandarin, but also giving them lessons in the Tibetan language.
For the first time, a Chinese Language Cell has been created at the ITBP Academy in Mussoorie to teach Mandarin. In the past two years, 58 ITBP personnel have learnt Mandarin, while 36 others learnt to read and write Tibetan. “This is primarily being done to bridge the communication gap between our men and the Chinese PLA,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
The LAC, on an average, sees over 400 transgressions by the Chinese Army. On many occasions, there has been friction between the Chinese PLA and the ITBP personnel due to a lack of understanding of each other’s language.
“It will not only help our case, but also give us an idea what the other side is talking about,” said the official.
Language barrier, he added, was an impediment during various meetings with the Chinese PLA. The need to learn Tibetan stemmed from the fact that a large number of locals, including grazers and villagers, move around in the vicinity of the LAC.
According to available data, 12 ITBP personnel have completed the Chinese language course from the School of Foreign Language, New Delhi, and 22 pursued short-duration Chinese course from the Army Institution.
