Indian army to recruit one lakh soldiers for China border

NEW DELHI: The central government has cleared a massive modernisation plan to recruit 1 lakh soldiers to be deployed along the Indo-China border over the next five years, said India Today (IT) on Wednesday.

The move comes after increasing presence of Chinese troops along the border and reports of frequent incursions, IT said.

Sources said the defence ministry has approved a Rs. 64,000 crore military modernisation plan. It includes recruiting four new army divisions of which two would be part of the Mountain Strike Corps for offensive operations.

The plan also includes raising two independent brigades, one in Ladakh and another in Uttarakhand.

It is going to be the biggest ever expansion package for the army. It would be the largest increase in deployment along the India-China border since the 1962 war.