Undeterred by China’s objections to development of border areas, the Centre on Friday announced setting up of 54 new border outposts and a Rs175-crore package for beefing up the infrastructure along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made the announcement at a function of the ITBP where he made it clear that India wanted to resolve the border dispute with China through dialogue and that “peace with honour” was the most important requirement for building good friendly relations with that country and other neighbours.
While China has itself made massive infrastructure development on its side of the line of Actual Control (lAC), the northern neighbour has been objecting to any development of such infrastructure by India. India’s development efforts along the lAC and setting up of border outposts have often led to instances of stand-offs, including during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India in September this year.
“Today when I talk about the border, be it with Pakistan or China, I feel pained and anguished over reports of ceasefire violations by Pakistan or incursions by Chinese troops,” he said at the 53rd raising day parade of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here, which guards the 3,488-km-long Indo-China border from ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
“Humlog shanti chahte hai samman ke saath. Asamman ke saath shanti nahi ho sakti (We want peace with honour. Peace cannot come at the cost of honour,” he said, referring to the recent border row with China. “Pride is the ultimate accomplishment of a human being, of mine and yours,” he asserted.
On development of areas bordering China, Singh said the Government has approved a plan for setting up of 54 border outposts (BoPs) for ITBP and also a Rs 175-crore package for building infrastructure along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
All these posts will be set up in Arunachal Pradesh where there were large operational gaps at the lAC.
“India wants to keep friendly relations with our neighbours whether it is China or Pakistan. We believe in the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ which means the world is one family and India has told the world about it,” he added.
Singh also said the Government was looking into the demand for a dedicated air support for the ITBP personnel.
Criticising ceasefire violations by Pakistan, he said the Government will ensure India’s territorial integrity and will not compromise with the country’s pride.