Attempts to reduce tensions between India and China may be gaining momentum, but India is not going to back down as far as road construction at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is concerned. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a review meeting on Tuesday regarding the ongoing road construction and other works on the border.
India is going to speed up the road construction work in the Ladakh area adjacent to the China border. A total of 30 permanent bridges are under construction and the road infrastructure will cost around Rs 20,000 crore, including construction of several highways and tunnels.
Despite China’s objections, India is busy expediting road works on the border. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has said that the ongoing projects on the LAC and the Line of Control (LoC) will be completed on time. Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reviewed the projects. BRO chief Lt General Harpal Singh and other senior officials briefed the Defence Minister on the progress of the projects at the China-Pakistan border.
In the meeting which lasted for more than an hour, the BRO chief informed the Defence Minister that no effort would be spared to complete the projects on LAC and LoC. He informed that the Ministries of Defence, Home and Road Transport are working together on all these projects. Significantly, India is rapidly building roads and other infrastructure on the LAC, which is why irritated China sent its troops in eastern Ladakh. But despite all these, the Army has continued to build roads and bridges. China already has a network of roads near the border, but it has problems with Indian projects across the LAC.
A major meeting on IndiaChina border management was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs on 22 June. The BRO is constructing three major roads in the Ladakh region. In the second phase of work on the India-China Border Road, 32 roads are to be constructed. It has been decided to speed up the construction work of these roads with the cooperation of all the agencies. A total of 73 roads are to be constructed on the IndiaChina Border Road.