Editorial: Matching China’s aggression

Displaying an unabashed streak of hegemony and territorial ambitions, China has been quite aggressive over the last few years in building infrastructure along the border while India has a lot to catch up. The ‘Vibrant Villages’ Programme, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech, will hopefully help New Delhi effectively counter the moves of an increasingly belligerent neighbour. The no-holds-barred infrastructure push by Beijing is forcing India to react. Amid the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh, China has been busy establishing new settlements or augmenting facilities in the existing ones. According to a report of the US Department of Defence, China built a 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between its Tibet Autonomous Region and Arunachal Pradesh last year. Beijing is also constructing a bridge on the Pangong Tso aimed at facilitating faster movement of troops between the lake’s north and south banks. The 13th and 14th rounds of Corps Commander-level talks — held in October last year and January this year, respectively — failed to break the deadlock. India has taken a tough stance, following the Galwan Valley border clash, and sent across a message that it is in for the long haul. There are lessons to be learnt from history. Back in July 1962, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had welcomed the ‘partial’ withdrawal of Chinese troops from Ladakh. However, the euphoria did not last long as China invaded Indian territory barely three months later in a blatant act of betrayal.

For India, it is a long way to go if it has to catch up with China on border infrastructure. The ‘Vibrant Villages’ scheme will cater to underdeveloped villages with sparse population and limited connectivity, located along the border with China. Besides, the capital budget of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been hiked to Rs 3,500 crore from Rs 2,500 crore. This is expected to help the BRO in expediting the works on strategically important projects. Among them is the Sela tunnel being built in Arunachal’s Tawang, a district bordering China. Infrastructure development in remote areas is a vital confidence-building measure to gain the trust of local residents, who can act as the eyes and ears of the troops. The scheme will focus on construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralised renewable energy, direct-to-home access for national TV networks and educational channels as well as support for livelihood generation. Even as ‘Make in India’ remains a work in progress in the defence sector, the government has announced that 68% of the capital defence procurement outlay will be earmarked for the domestic industry. With China relentlessly breathing down India’s neck, it is critical to keep the armed forces well equipped and operationally ready at all times. There is no room for vacillation when national security is at stake.