Modi to open India’s longest bridge in Assam today, mark shift in China strategy
New Delhi: For more than five decades, India ignored the roads along its 4,056-km long disputed border with China. “The bridge across Brahmaputra in Assam into Arunachal Pradesh is a great strategic shift in the thinking in the Indian defence establishment regarding infrastructure development in the borders with China,” said K.V. Kuber, an independent defence analyst and former colonel in the Indian Army, “The new infrastructure will help the Indian military to be prepared for a decent rebuttal to ward off any misadventure from the Chinese side.” The bridge is among a slew of infrastructure projects that Modi has fast-tracked since taking office three years ago. “India has to be prepared for a short, intense war in the years to come and movement of resources from one sector to another—depending on the threat envisaged—is of utmost importance to the Indian armed forces,” said S. K. Chatterji, an independent defence analyst and a former brigadier in the Indian Army, “This bridge on the Brahmaputra will help India to quickly move resources, including military weapons and equipment at will, to the borders with China along Arunachal Pradesh.” Neglected region In Arunachal Pradesh in the Himalayas, which China considers South Tibet, India will follow the bridge over the Brahmaputra by building a 2,000-km highway in the state at a cost of $6 billion. Since then, even as China developed infrastructure along the border, India viewed the “lack of roads in the state as a defence mechanism to stop Chinese troop movement into India’s heartland,” according to a research paper by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.
China making model village on land captured during Nehru's reign: S Jaishankar
Discover Related
Donald Trump’s tariffs war: Does the 125% duty on China make it India’s time to shine?
Yunus told China Northeast is landlocked. Now India ends trans-shipment facility for Bangladesh
Yunus’s China visit shows Bangladesh is toeing Pakistan’s path
India's Modi clinches defence, energy deals in Sri Lanka
India should be cautious of its steps in Dragon-Elephant Tango
PM Modi meets Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Yunus in Bangkok
India fortifies 'Chicken's Neck' as Bangladesh, China eye strategic corridor
S Jaishankar's 'cherry-picking' jab at Bangladesh's Northeast 'landlocked' claim
Why Bangaldesh leader Yunus' remarks on the Northeast have angered India
China willing to import more Indian products, envoy says
Assam CM Himata Biswa slams Bangladesh chief Muhammad Yunus' remark on Northeast: ‘Longstanding agendas’
'Must Not Be Taken Lightly': Himanta Condemns Bangladesh's Northeast 'Landlocked' Remark In China
Might as well break up Bangladesh: Northeast leaders bash Yunus pitch to China
'7 Indian states are landlocked': Yunus pitches Bangladesh as China’s gateway to the Indian Ocean
Bridge over Najafgarh in SW Delhi abandoned due to land acquisition failure
HC summons all Punjab DCs, SSPs over delay in handing over land to NHAI
BRI taxation framework worsens threat for India
‘Environmental risk posed by China’s Medog Dam project’