India-China_border_infrastructure

India–China border infrastructure

India–China border infrastructure

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Border infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border, which has several border areas disputed by both India and China, encompasses irrigation, roads, railways, airports, natural gas and oil pipelines, electricity grids, telecommunications, and broadcasting. In the context of the border tensions between India and China, many of these infrastructure projects in the borderlands are considered strategic in nature. Commentators have noted the infrastructure gap that existed, and still exists, between the infrastructure on the borderlands of India and China.[1] For many decades, the approach taken to the construction of border infrastructure by China and India was significantly different,[2] however, in terms of utilizing the natural resources of the borderlands for the needs of the country, both countries are said to have a similar approach.[3]

Context

See also: Deployment structure of Indian and Chinese militaries on the Sino-Indian border and Chinese salami slicing strategy
Western Theater Command of China, area under integrated command.
Map of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with disputed areas claimed by China shown in blue.
Map of Tibet Autonomous Region with disputed areas claimed by China shown in blue.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the disputed border between India and China, which has led to the ongoing Sino-Indian border dispute. There are designated Border Personnel Meeting Points (BPM Points or BPMP) on LAC, mutually agreed by India and China, for conducting meeting to resolve the dispute.[4]

Chinese Military has an integrated Western Theater Command (WTC) across the whole LAC with India. Western Theater Command also covers provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Chongqing.[5]

Indian Military has divided the LAC into 3 sectors - the northern sector (some times also called western sector) across Ladakh and the Chinese-held Aksai Chin, the central sector across Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand states, and the eastern sector across Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh states.[6][7]

China

See also: Land Borders Law of the People's Republic of China

Air infrastructure

See also: Chinese Airbases

See China's air infrastructure in Western Theater.

Roads

See also: Roads in China

China has built several roads along Indian border:

  • China National Highway 349 (G349):
    It runs from Lahsa near the India-Bhutan-Tibet border to areas along the Arunachal Pradesh.

Railway

See also: Railway in China
  • Sichuan–Tibet railway (Sichuan–Xizang railway or Chuanzang railway), planned:
    Will connect Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, and Lhasa, the provincial capital of Tibet.[11] The line will be 1,629 km (1,012 mi) long,[12][13] will significantly cut travel time from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 to 13 hours.[14]

China-Pakistan infrastructure

See also: China–Pakistan relations, Debt-trap diplomacy, and Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts

China is constructing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir which is an area claimed by India. India also claims the nearby Trans-Karakoram Tract (Shaksgam Valley) ceded to China by Pakistan. Pakistan and China have also built the strategic Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan-held India-claimed Gilgit to Xinjiang.[15]

Xiaokang - border defense villages

China has developed a number of "xiaokang" or "model well-off border defence villages".[16] The number of villages reportedly– range from 624,[16][17] and 680,[18][19] to 965.[17] Some of the new Chinese border villages (with claimed location) are as follows:

  • Arunachal Pradesh:
    • Luowa [zh] in 2021,[20]
    • Kyungling (Arunachal Pradesh)[21]

India

Air infrastructure

See also: Indian Airbases

See the Indian air bases and advanced landing grounds (ALG) along China border.

PP - Patrol Points

See also: Indian Army bases

India has identified the specific Patrol Points with the specified route and the maximum depth up to which Indian troops usually patrol into the disputed territory on LAC. Patrolling points provide a truer sense of the extent of India's limits of actual control.[26][27][28]

Railway

See also: Strategic rail lines of India, India-Bhutan geostrategic rail lines, and India-Nepal geostrategic rail lines

Some of that Indian railway projects serving the border with China are:

Roads & ICBR

See also: Tourist roads in Ladakh

India has embarked on constructing India-China Border Roads.

Telephony and internet

Under the 4G Saturation project, the BSNL will set up 20,000 4G towers in 30,000 border villages at the cost of ₹26,000 crore rupees from the Universal Service Obligation Fund. As of May 2023 the project was already underway and it will be completed in 15 months by 31 July 2024. Today, India has about 640,000 villages, of which 575,000 have been covered by mobile telephony and data connectivity, leaving a gap of 65,000 villages without connectivity, of these 40,000 villages are being covered under the border village plan. Under the 4G saturation plan, the government wants to connect 100% villages with 4G services by 2024.[29]

Village infrastructure development

India has two non-overlapping distinct schemes, the Vibrant Village Program (VVP) specifically for the Indian villages on border with China and the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) for Indian villages on border with all the neighboring countries including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, etc.[30]

VIP - Vibrant Village Program

Vibrant Village Program (VVP) phase-1 has ₹4,800 crore (US$600 million), including ₹2,500 crore (US$310 million) for the roads alone, centrally sponsored scheme budget for the fy2022-23 to fy2025-26 3 year period to comprehensively develop 662 villages with a population of 142,000 on India-China border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Ladakh. Eventually the scheme will cover all 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 border districts for the comprehensive development in the subsequent phases. The district administrator will prepare the district and village level plans with the help of grampanchayats (elected Village council) in a "hub & spokes" based growth centers model by identifying natural & human resources to develop tourism & eco-agriculture, comprehensive infrastructure including electricity, communications, healthcare, roads, startups, social enterprises, youth and woman entered empowerment, etc to stop the outward migration. NGOs, self help groups (SHG) and cooperatives will also be included.[30]

To boost the astrotourism in India, the government is setting up observatories at Jadhang and some other places under this program.[31]

BADP - Border Area Development Programme

The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was initiated in the 1980s along the western border with Pakistan. By June 2020, the scheme covered nearly 400 blocks in 111 border districts in 18 states and union territories.[4] This scheme extends to development projects within 10 km of the border.[note 1] Projects can include roads, bridges, health facilities, primary schools, irrigation, and sports facilities.[4] In 2019–20, the scheme was allotted ₹825 crore (equivalent to ₹971 crore or US$120 million in 2023), while in 2020-21 it was allotted ₹784 crore (equivalent to ₹923 crore or US$120 million in 2023).[4]

In 1997, BADP started in Arunachal Pradesh. It first applied to the Indo-Myanmar Border and in 1998 was extended to the Indo-China and Indo-Bhutan borders.[33] Even after ten years, BADP was unable to provide development to the over 1500 villages in the border blocks of Arunachal Pradesh; "the border blocks are yet to be opened up and are in utter backwardness due to their isolation and inaccessibility".[33] A NITI Aayog evaluation study for the period 2007-2011 and published in 2015 found that while the heads of Gram Panchayats (GPs) gave positive feedback related to BADP, and while people have benefitted in some ways, the requirement of border villages in Arunachal Pradesh were so great that they couldn't be met by BADP in one go:[34]

...of the 21 GPs surveyed, only six were connected by all-weather roads; electricity was available in only seven of them; tap water was available only in five; none of the GPs surveyed had fixed line telephones. Only two of the 21 GPs had PDS shops; some villages were almost 25 km away from these shops. Several villages did not even have primary schools and anganwadi centres.

Arunachal border villages

Arunachal Pradesh has 455 villages under vibrant village scheme. Of these, 135 villages are designated as priority villages, because they are not yet connected by the roads. In January 2024, the central Ministry of Rural Development approved Rs 2,205 crores project to connect these 125 unconnected villages in Arunachal with 105 roads of total distance of 1,022 km. Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are being prepared for these 105 road. Remaining 10 villages are not being considered presently because of issues related to the land acquisition.[35]

More information District, Block ...

See also


References

Notes
  1. [N 1]
    Development work in the area beyond 10 km is to start under BADP only after completion of the first 10 km.[32]
Citations
  1. [1]
    Kurian 2014, p. Closing the Infrastructure Gap.
  2. [2]
    Rajagopalan & Prakash 2013, p. 13.
  3. [3]
    Mukherjee 2019, Chapter 6.
  4. [4]
    Singh, Vijaita (2020-06-03). "India to boost infrastructure in areas along China border". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  5. [5]
    "Eye on India, China raises Tibet military command rank | Central Tibetan Administration". tibet.net. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
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    India-China War: US Study Explains Why Indian Air Force Could Outgun China In A Border Conflict Archived 27 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Eurasian Times, 24 July 2020.
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    "Twisting India's Chicken's Neck". lowyinstitute.org. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
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    通讯员 窦海蓉 李岩旺 (21 April 2020). "国道G219线南撒至岗莫标山建设项目稳步推进" [The construction project of National Highway G219 from Nansa to Gangmobiaoshan is progressing steadily]. m.yunnan.cn. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
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    "CHINA TODAY". www.chinatoday.com.cn. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  10. [10]
    The Official website of Yunnan province Report of inauguration. Retrieved 1 July 2006.
  11. [11]
    Chu. "China Approves New Railway for Tibet". english.cri.cn. CRI. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  12. [12]
    "西藏拉林铁路开工建设". 2014-12-19.
  13. [13]
    "四川藏区加速构建立体交通网". 2014-12-25.
  14. [14]
    Briginshaw, David (11 November 2020). "China starts work on central section of Sichuan-Tibet Railway". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  15. [15]
    The BRO’s Mega Project in Eastern Ladakh: A New Road to Daulat Beg Oldi, The Diplomat, 6 October 2023.
  16. [16]
    Ranade, Jayadeva (12 February 2022). "China digging in for long haul in Ladakh". Rediff. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  17. [17]
    Panag, Lt Gen (Retd) H S (2021-11-11). "China's Land Border Law is more sinister than it lets on. India needs a course correction". ThePrint. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  18. [18]
    "Come clean on Arunachal situation". Deccan Herald. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  19. [19]
    "680 thriving Chinese villages along Indian borders cause of concern, says expert". Tribune India. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  20. [20]
    Som, Vishnu (18 January 2021). "Exclusive: China Has Built Village In Arunachal, Show Satellite Images". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  21. [21]
    Som, Vishnu (18 November 2021). "Second China-Constructed Enclave In Arunachal, Show New Satellite Images". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  22. [22]
    Som, Vishnu (20 November 2020). "China Sets Up Village Within Bhutan, 9 Km From Doklam Face-Off Site". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  23. [23]
    Griffiths, James; Suri, Manveena (25 November 2020). "Satellite images appear to show China developing area along disputed border with India and Bhutan". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  24. [24]
    Pundir, Pallavi (11 December 2020). "Latest Satellite Images Show New Village Very Close to Indian Borders". Vice. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  25. [25]
    Gupta, Shishir (2020-11-20). "Spotlight on Ladakh, China secretly made moves in central, Sikkim and eastern sectors". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  26. [26]
    Subramanian, Nirupama; Kaushik, Krishn (2020-09-20). "Month before standoff, China blocked 5 patrol points in Depsang". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  27. [27]
    Singh, Sushant (2020-07-13). "Patrolling Points: What do these markers on the LAC signify?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  28. [28]
    "India-China LAC Standoff: Know what are patrolling points and what do they signify". The Financial Express. 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  29. [29]
    BSNL goes to borders to set up 20,000 4G towers., LiveMint, 2 June 2023.
  30. [30]
    Amit Shah launches Vibrant Villages Programme in Arunachal: What is this scheme, Indian Express, 14vApr 2023.
  31. [31]
    India’s new tourism boom is in the sky. Uttarakhand to Andamans, stargazing on the rise, The Print, 5 June 2023.
  32. [32]
    NITI Aayog 2015, p. 5.
  33. [33]
    Border Area Development Programme in Arunachal Pradesh. Status on October 2009. Department of Planning, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Retrieved on 19 January 2021.
  34. [34]
    NITI Aayog 2015, p. 42.
  35. [35]
    Centre-approved proposals to connect 125 unconnected habitations in Arunachal: Governor, Goa Chronicle, 26th January 2024.
Sources

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