“THE CHINESE WHISPER” - 三思而后行 (Think three times, Act after)

For an interesting fact when you share your border with 14 other countries of the world & have land issues with 13 of them except 1, who is surviving at your will, then confrontation is in your nature. The recent chain of events on India-China border has once again turned out to be a diplomatic front for both the countries rather than a war front.

India share border with china on more than 5 fronts ie. Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh but the major confrontation fronts are Ladakh, Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh all the three areas are claimed by Chinese as their territory and blames India for illegal occupation on the same. But, what we need to understand is why in recent years the conflicts have risen so much & why there is unrest shown by the china. The answer is so simple but ignored by majority of people ie. development.

In the past year’s India has increased the infrastructural work in these 5 regions which is popping in the eyes of China. To make a habitable environment the basic requirement is two things firstly good infrastructure secondly electricity. All the other parameters are somehow connected. In recent years the government has been involved in promoting these objectives which are pebbles in the eyes of china.

With one of the largest multi-highway projects “Bharatmala” by NHAI in its phase 1 planned to deliver 34800km length of road costing 535000cr including 2000km for border & international connectivity.

For the north-east region “Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE)” was introduced. It envisages two/four laning of about 7,429 Km of National Highways and two laning/improvement of about 2,712 Km of state roads. The Arunachal Pradesh Package of Roads and Highways covering 2,319 km of Road stretch was approved by the Government as part of SARDP-NE. In Sikkim, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has a total of 17 projects for a length of 751 km including 242 km long Alternative highway to Gangtok and leading to LAC with China, Singtam-Gyalshing road in West Sikkim and Bharatmala projects in North Sikkim.

In Jammu & Kashmir, there are a total of 15 projects for a length of 816 km including 274 km long NH-244, Jammu-Akhnoor, Z-Morh Tunnel and Zojila Tunnel Asia’s longest tunnel.

In addition to the same, the India-Japan ties for cooperation in roads & road transportation is also a major issue. The two countries have agreed on Deepen technical information exchange including with the private sector expanding Japanese collaboration in road infrastructure development in India.

On the power front, sanction for ‘North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) for strengthening of the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution Systems at an estimated cost of Rs. 5111.33 crore.

Sanction for ‘Comprehensive Scheme for strengthening of Transmission & Distribution in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim’ was accorded by Government of India at an estimated cost of Rs. 4754.42 crore.

Also execution of 220 kV Transmission System from Srinagar to Leh project at an estimated cost of Rs.1788.41 crore. The North Eastern Region Urban Development Programme (NERUDP) Phase-I is being implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) with the financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project covers priority urban services viz.

(i) Water Supply,

(ii) Sewerage and Sanitation, and

(iii) Solid Waste Management.

These projects & efforts by the government are never appreciated by China since it leads to easy mobilization of forces in the remote areas in case of emergency. Also, sometimes all you want to deviate the world from your mistakes by playing a different card, same is happening in China, to suppress the voice of democracy in the country in the recent series of ongoing protests & to hide the information of COVID-19 china is playing an aggressive strategy. To counter the same India adopts an abrupt strategy, which is something different for the dragon.