New Delhi, July 1: Amid the India-China stand-off, a turf war has broken out afresh between the Union home ministry and the defence ministry over command of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP), which guards the 3,488km China frontier.

According to sources, the Indian Army has renewed its demand for operational command of the paramilitary force, which the Rajnath Singh-headed home ministry has objected to.

The matter, senior officials said, has reached the Prime Minister's Office. The home and defence ministries have for long bickered over control of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force.

"The rivalry between the defence and home ministries over control of the ITBP is a long-standing issue. But this time, the spat has resurfaced in the midst of escalating tensions between Indian and Chinese troops in the disputed Doko La area of the Sikkim sector," a senior home ministry official said.

According to the official, the Indian Army recently renewed its demand for control of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force, saying the paramilitary force was not adequately equipped to meet the challenges on the tricky China border.

"The army thinks the China border is under threat and wants to take control of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force, citing frequent border skirmishes and several incidents of transgression by the Chinese People's Armed Police in the recent past in the Ladakh and Sikkim sectors," the official said.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Force protects the China border, which passes along Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The home ministry, however, has put its foot down, citing convention according to which borders are guarded by paramilitary forces while the army remains behind this first line of defence.

"Even on the Chinese side, the People's Armed Police, also a paramilitary force, guards the border while the People's Liberation Army is stationed behind the first line of defence," a senior home ministry official said.

The home ministry pointed out that the Border Security Force guards the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders and the Sashastra Seema Bal mans the borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

Last November, Rajnath had held a meeting with the chief secretaries and directors-general of police of the five states bordering China amid a face-off between the troops of the two countries in Ladakh's Demchok where the Chinese had stopped the construction of a canal under India's national rural job scheme.

"The home ministry is not willing to hand over the command of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force to the defence ministry. It recently decided to deploy more border guards and increase the ITBP's presence along the Chinese frontier to counter intrusions," a home ministry official said.

While India and China have for years been holding talks to settle the boundary dispute, both countries have been ramping up border infrastructure, often leading to skirmishes.

The Indian government is building 73 roads along the China border. Intelligence reports say China too has been enhancing its border infrastructure by building roads, bridges, a railway network and airports.

Indian Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said he was not aware of tensions between the home and defence ministries over control of the ITBP.

Officials said the home ministry had directed the ITBP brass to be extremely vigilant against any Chinese offence along the border.

R.K. Pachnanda, a former Calcutta police commissioner who took charge of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force as its director-general earlier this week, today held a five-hour meeting with officials who briefed him about the status of its deployment along the India-China border.

Sources said the Indian Army had for the first time demanded operational command of the ITBP in 1986. The demand became more insistent since 1999, when a Chinese intrusion at Chip Chap in Ladakh was reported while Indian troops were engaged in the Kargil war with Pakistan.

The Union home minister maintains that the 90,000-strong ITBP was raised on October 24, 1962, specifically to guard the Chinese frontier after the India-China war.

The rivalry between the two ministries is not new. In the past, the home ministry had suggested that the BSF take guard on the 1,643km India-Myanmar border, which is protected by Assam Rifles. The ministry had said Assam Rifles, under the operational command of the Indian Army, had failed to contain insurgency in the Northeast.

Officials recounted how the home ministry, during the tenure of P. Chidambaram, had also proposed to take over the operational command of Assam Rifles.

"But the proposal was vehemently opposed by the defence ministry," an official said.