India, China on road to recovery

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• India slams China Arunachal claim
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Keywords: Ladakh, Road Construction Programme, Manmohan Singh, Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi: As Manmohan Singh prepares to shake hands with Hu Jintao in New Delhi, there's some frenetic shadow boxing in the background.

India has accelerated road construction projects in areas claimed by China, apparently to strengthen its negotiating position in border talks. This follows the rapid development of a road network by China in Tibet.

Even as the red carpet was being laid out for Hu, the Ministry of Defence on Monday reviewed the progress of 12 strategically important roads being built along the Chinese frontier in Arunachal Pradesh.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministries of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office. The Defence establishment was not at all shy of talking about these roads.

Says Minister of State for Defence, Pallam Raju, "It is a project that costs over Rs 12,000 crore. These are all parts of strengthening the infrastructure that the country should rightly possess."

500 km of new roads will be added in Arunachal in the first phase of this programme. But it's the second phase, which will really give a boost to India's strategic infrastructure in the border areas.

The road length will increase by over 5,700 km in the North-East, principally in Arunachal. The accelerated road construction progamme extends to Ladakh, the other front in the Sino-Indian rivalry.

D G Border Roads Organisation, Lt General KS Rao, says "Connectivity to Ladakh is part of the package."

India rejects the impression that these border roads are a militaristic response to the formidable Chinese network in Tibet.

Says Pallam Raju, "It is not a response against a neighbour but towards strengthening our own economy."

However, it's difficult not to see the road networks across the Line of Actual Control in competitive terms.

By putting its border roads on fast track, India has indicated that is willing to play high stakes with China.