Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and top State officials visited the troops along India’s border with Tibet, including Yangtse, where Chinese troops reportedly infiltrated a few days ago.
A Government spokesperson said the Chief Minister trekked to the remote outposts in Tawang district primarily to boost the morale of the soldiers and thank them for forcing the People’s Liberation Army personnel to withdraw from Indian territory.
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A face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers was reported at the Yangtse border post recently.
“We are safe because you guard our borders with utmost sincerity. People of India, especially of Arunachal Pradesh and particularly of Tawang district, will remain indebted to you all forever,” Mr. Khandu observed while interacting with soldiers at Chuna along the international border that he prefers to call “Indo-Tibet”.
Border areas development
The Centre and the State have prioritised the development of border areas and the pace of building infrastructure had accelerated in recent years, he stated.
Mr. Khandu attributed the border infrastructure push to a coordinated approach instead of independent projects pursued by agencies such as the Border Roads Organisation, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the State Government departments, as was the practice earlier.
Four more companies of the Arunachal Scouts, an infantry regiment of the Army based in the State, would be raised for defending the border, he added. Arunachal Scouts currently has two battalions.
Yangtse was the first post the Chief Minister visited after starting his three-day trip on October 24 along with Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and Planning Commissioner Prashant Lokhande. He touched Tse Chu, Mago and Thingbu villages along the border.
He also visited the Yangkee-1 border outpost that hosts the Buddhist site of 108 waterfalls and a war memorial at Tullung La.
