Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will undertake his first visit to the North-East to study operational preparedness of the armed forces on the line of Actual Control (lAC) with China. The three-day visit starting Friday will see the Minister visiting forward bases in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh besides some other posts Assam, officials said here on Thursday.
Incidentally, this visit comes weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China in May. China had objected to then Defence Minister AK Antony’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh two years back. Antony, however, criticized Beijing for raising these objections. China lays claim to Arunachal Pradesh.