Editorial: Matching up to China

Union Cabinet’s nod for the Rs 4,800 crore “Vibrant Villages” programme is a welcome move to counter Chinese aggression

Hyderabad: In the last few years, China has been blatantly displaying its territorial hegemony by stepping up construction activity along the Himalayan frontier, sparking major security concerns in India. Construction of bases, including new dual-use airports, has also gathered pace ever since the bloody standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. In this backdrop, the union cabinet’s nod for the Rs 4,800 crore “Vibrant Villages” programme, covering border areas of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh, is a welcome move to counter Chinese aggression. Designed to develop over 600 border villages and growth centres through promotion of social entrepreneurship, empowerment of youth and women through skill development and entrepreneurship, the scheme is a long-overdue measure to improve livelihood opportunities for people in the region. The approval for a 4.1-km tunnel on the Nimu-Padam-Darcha Road link to provide all-weather connectivity to the border areas of Ladakh is also significant from a security point of view. In addition to this, the government will spend Rs 1,800 crore to raise seven new battalions of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) — 9,000 personnel— chiefly deployed along India’s borders with China alongside the Army. There has been a long-pending demand from the residents of Ladakh’s border villages for better facilities — more 4G telecommunication towers, better roads, schools with adequate facilities, 24×7 electricity — to match those that exist in the settlements across the LAC. The no-holds-barred infrastructure push by Beijing is forcing India to react. Since the Galwan Valley clash, China has been busy establishing new settlements or augmenting facilities in the existing ones.

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. The attempted Chinese incursion in Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh last December has once again highlighted the urgency for augmenting the border infrastructure. With the People’s Liberation Army deciding when and where to cause pain to India along the 3,488-km disputed border, New Delhi does not have the luxury of time. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) appears to be keen to drive home the message that they can intrude at will anywhere along the LAC, despite the high-level all-weather deployment of the Indian Army. Building “vibrant” villages and developing infrastructure on the border are important, and convey politically that the government is seized of the urgency of the situation on the border, but by themselves, they may not be sufficient. They have to be part of a broader defence strategy which should include modernisation of the forces. The government’s decision to approve a financial package for border villages and upgrade security comes at a time when issues with China are still to be resolved along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

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