Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said that very soon the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh will be connected with rail network and a station will be built near the border. Parrikar said the Defence and Railway Ministries will sign an MoU soon for expansion of rail network in border areas. “(Railway Minister) Suresh Prabhu and I have already discussed the issue. I have received a call from Prabhu’s office that the draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) was ready. In the next two weeks, the MoU between the Defence Ministry and Railway Ministry will be signed,” Parrikar said at Panaji.
The PM had flagged off two trains bringing Arunachal Pradesh on the railway map of the country in February this year and efforts then started to connect all major towns of the State by rail link. The project comes as part of Centre’s decision to expedite the process of building four top-priority strategic railway lines along the China border. The project would be undertaken jointly by Defence and Railway Ministries.
The Defence Minister’s statement comes against the backdrop of China Daily reporting on Thursday that China was planning to build a tunnel under Mount Everest, called Qomolangma in Tibetan, as part of its plan to extend its rail link to Nepal, a move that could set alarm bells ringing in India. Parrikar, however, said the “gravity” of the border issue between China and India has come down as far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned. He said instances of transgression by China into the Indian territory have reduced in the last one year owing to confidence building measures between the two sides.
In January, Prabhu had said India and China trade relations would soon see broader exchanges with the expansion of Indian railways to China border. Railway officials said that while Balipara-Bhalukpong railway track is completed and awaiting trial run this month, a proposal for connecting Parshuram Kund and Pasighat through Tezu is in the pipeline along with Along-Silapathar-North lakhimpur railway line in the far-east of the country.
An airport is also being built at Pasighat and another is proposed to be built at Tawang, close to the China border, capable of handling heavy aircraft. This will enable the Army to transport troops to Arunachal Pradesh in case of emergency.