Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will take stock of operational preparedness of the Army on the India-China border and the status of infrastructure development there during his visit to Eastern Command, Kolkata on Saturday. He will also review the progress of raising the Mountain Strike Corps for facing any challenge from China.
In his first visit to the eastern sector after assuming charge as Defence Minister, he will be briefed about the Mountain Strike Corps at its base headquarters in Panagarh, West Bengal. The previous UPA Government had given the nod for the Corps in July last year and the raising including building infrastructure began early this year.
The Corps will cost the exchequer more than Rs80,000 crore which includes recruitment of 40,000 personnel and acquisition of specialised weaponry for fighting a war in the mountains facing China in the east and in ladakh region. The Army will raise the Corps in a period of five to seven years.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag will also be present during Jaitley’s tour and incidentally Suhag is also visiting Eastern Command for the first time since taking over as the Chief in July. He will also visit some posts in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to review preparedness, officials said here on Friday.
As regards infrastructure, India lacks behind China as it has built roads right up to the line of Actual Control(lAC) besides airfields and rail network in the Tibetan plateau. India short-listed 73 roads as strategically important and construction of most of these roads in behind schedule.Moreover, Jaitley and Suhag’s visit to Eastern Command comes at a time when China is repeatedly transgressing the lAC and the figure stands at more than 340 incidents till July end.