The Hindu : Front Page : “We will build roads near China border”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007
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“We will build roads near China border”

Sandeep Dikshit

We are very categorical that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India, says Antony

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

Security to the fore: Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Army Chief General J.J. Singh after attending the Commanders-in-Chief conference in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: India has defended the building of roads and other infrastructure near China border, saying it was “not a new thing” and “no one could prevent both sides” from doing so on their respective territories.

“China has been building infrastructure [near the Line of Actual Control]. We are also building infrastructure and nobody can prevent both sides. There is nothing wrong in that. They have the right [to build infrastructure] on their territory; we have the right to do that on ours. We are also trying to hasten the development of our infrastructure,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told newspersons after addressing the Unified Commanders-in-Chief conference here on Monday.

The Minister said the impetus to developing the infrastructure in remote border areas was to “meet the aspirations of the people”. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Defence Ministry were directly carrying out infrastructure development.

Asked about Chinese claims to Indian territory, he said, “They have their perception. On our part we are very categorical that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India.”

Asked whether India and Pakistan were closer to resolving the Siachen dispute, he pointed out that India had “stated very clearly” that any forward movement would depend on Pakistan agreeing to authenticate the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) and the troops’ positions.

On the involvement of the armed forces in tackling the naxalite violence, he said: “At the moment we are not in favour of sending in the Army. There will be no direct involvement of the armed forces. We don’t want the Army to tackle civilian problems. It is the duty of State governments and paramilitary forces. We can assist them by giving training and equipment.”

On the multi-billion dollar tender for fighter aircraft, he said most of the work on sending request for proposals to competing foreign manufacturers was more or less over and only formalities remained to be completed.

The Minister said India was not worried but concerned about the acquisition of airpower by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. “A terrorist organisation gaining this kind of capability is a matter of concern.” India had the most “cordial relations” with Sri Lanka and was committed to its sovereignty, unity and integrity. “We will support them in whatever they need” but the ultimate solution to the ethnic problem was not military but political.

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