Border infra push

AMID a protracted standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has invited bids for the construction of a 4-km-long concrete road near Saser La, a 17,800-foot-high pass in the Karakoram mountains in eastern Ladakh. As reported by The Tribune, this stretch will be part of the 56-km military-usable road being built to connect Sasoma, Saser La and Murgo. It has been envisaged as an alternative pathway to reach Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie in the Sub-Sector North. The Depsang plains and Demchok are the key friction points on which India and China have failed to reach an agreement despite holding 18 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks over the past three years.

Building the concrete road underscores India’s resolve to augment border infrastructure and match China’s relentless aggression. Beijing has been building roads and bridges along the LAC with the intention of enhancing troop mobility and battle readiness. The stalemate was aptly summed up on Thursday by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who said that any expectation of normalisation of India’s ties with China was unfounded as long as the border situation in eastern Ladakh was not normal.

It is imperative that the new road and other infrastructure projects are completed within their time frames. There is a dire need to make the strategic Sela tunnel operational as it would provide all-weather connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district, which had witnessed a clash between Indian and Chinese troops in December 2022. These projects would benefit not only the armed forces but also their ‘eyes and ears’ — the local residents. The Vibrant Villages Programme, which was launched at Kibithoo (Arunachal Pradesh) in April, is also central to India’s plan for countering China’s provocative moves. Under this programme, around 3,000 villages in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh have been identified for comprehensive development. Ensuring the success of these initiatives is vital for maximising border security.