mosimage}China's objection to India's plans to build a 2,000-km road in Arunachal Pradesh was not just a symbolic protest, as the Chinese began troop movements along the border as an intimidating tactic soon after an announcement about the project was made by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju last month.
Highly placed government sources said China escalated the matter and lodged an official complaint with the Indian Embassy in Beijing. A top government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue, said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was concerned by the aggressive stand taken by China.
"The Chinese began troop movements to build pressure on us. They made it very clear that if peace is disrupted, India will be responsible for it," said the government official.
A day after Rijiju spoke about the construction of the road in Arunachal Pradesh, China expressed its opposition to the move. Rijiju had said India was planning to construct the road along the border from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, his home state.
Rjiju's announcement came soon after an extended face-off between Indian and Chinese troops on the border in Ladakh.
There have been a series of incursions by China over the past few years and the number spiked this year. The Home Ministry, while responding to a question in the Parliament, stated that 1,612 incidents of "transgression" took place on the frontier with China since 2010.
The road in Arunachal Pradesh was planned while keeping in mind the large-scale migration of people from border areas and the need to settle them close to the frontier by creating more infrastructure and basic amenities. The proposed 2,000-km-long road was still in the conceptual stage.
"The construction of the road will be a huge challenge considering the rough and hostile terrain, mostly snow-fed, through which it will pass and it will be the biggest single infrastructure project in the history of India with an estimated cost of over Rs.40,000 crore," Rijiju said in Itanagar last month.
India has been concerned by development of areas across the border and the rapid expansion of China's road network. The Chinese air and rail networks in Tibet too have got a push, allowing them to be used to quickly mobilize troops close to the border.
In order to strengthen vigil along the border, the government has decided to construct 54 new posts for the Indo Tibetan Border Police to add to the existing 157 and to increase the number of boots on the ground along the 3,488-km border.
Read more at:
Post project announcement by India, China began troop movement : India, News - India Today