New Delhi: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday (August 19) rejected claims that Chinese troops had penetrated 60 kilometres into Arunachal Pradesh, but acknowledged that Chinese military activity on high ridges along the frontier had increased and said concerns raised by villagers about it were justified and should be taken seriously.Speaking to news agency IANS, Rijiju said the situation along parts of the India-China border was complicated by the absence of demarcation, with Indian and Chinese communities holding competing perceptions of where their respective territories extended.“So, it is not like they [China] came and captured our village. That is not the case. On certain land, they have cast an eye because there is no demarcation,” he said.“Our people believe that our land extends further ahead, while the villages situated on the China side, including Tibetan and local people, claim that their land extends deep inside here. So, there is confusion,” Rijiju said.The minister’s comments come amid renewed concerns over Chinese activity in Arunachal Pradesh, particularly around Taksing in Upper Subansiri district.A fact-finding team constituted by the opposition People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) reported after a July visit to the area that Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel had denied Indian forces access to the Shera 5 patrolling point and were expanding control over areas traditionally used by local communities.Those findings followed allegations in June by the Nah Welfare Society that the PLA had expanded its presence in areas traditionally used by local communities near Taksing.The Indian Army rejected the June allegations, saying reports of recent Chinese encroachment and camps in Arunachal Pradesh were “incorrect and without any basis”. The PPA’s later findings concerned, among other things, access to the Shera 5 patrolling point.Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu also rejected reports of Chinese encroachment on August 8, saying there were “no signs of encroachment in Arunachal Pradesh” and that the Indian Army was effectively patrolling and safeguarding the territory.Rijiju said India’s own patrolling presence along the frontier had been strengthened. But he also acknowledged that Chinese military activity had increased in the high-altitude areas.“However, on the high ridges at the top, Chinese military activity has certainly increased … The concerns raised by our villagers regarding that are justified, and we should take them very seriously,” he said.Rijiju also referred to Chinese structures in an area ahead of Longju, where he said the PLA had built structures resembling a village. He placed the Chinese presence there in the history of the unresolved border dispute, saying the area had been occupied in 1959, when some Assam Rifles personnel were killed, and that China consolidated its position there during the 1962 war.An Indian post remains at the border point, he said, while movement between the two countries in the area has been closed since 1962.Rijiju, however, rejected the specific claim that Chinese troops had penetrated 60 kilometres into Arunachal Pradesh, saying that such claims and the use of unrelated photographs were misinformation.“But telling such lies that they have entered 60 kilometres inside, and posting unrelated photos from Bangladesh and elsewhere to claim that the Chinese Army has penetrated 60 kilometres inside Arunachal, spreading such misinformation lowers the morale of our Army personnel and security forces stationed there, and creates confusion in the country. This is not right,” he said.Earlier, former Union minister and former BJP MP R.K. Singh had demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh on how many Indian patrolling points had been “given up” since 2014. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi subsequently accused the government of suppressing reports that China was preventing Indian forces from patrolling their areas in Arunachal Pradesh.