Army prepares roadmap to enhance infra along China border

The Army has prepared a plan for boosting infrastructure with construction of new roads along the India-China border to mobilise troop movement along with restructuring some formations to boost capabilities after the Doklam stand-off.

The subject was discussed, and a road map was prepared during the Army Commander's Conference in Delhi where the top brass of the force has been brainstorming on several issues.

Four passes bordering China in the Central Sector that falls in Uttarakhand will be connected via roads by 2020. The roads will also have connectivity to other sectors linking Himachal and Leh.

"This falls in the region that is one of the weakest links in terms of infrastructure. Road connectivity will help in troop mobilisation at a short notice," said an army source.

Barahoti and Pulam Sumda are the two disputed regions in the Central Sector. There were two instances of Chinese transgression in Barahoti in July this year. The over two-month stand-off in Doklam on the Sikkim border was triggered as the Indian Army stopped China from building a road in in the disputed region between China and Bhutan citing agreements between the countries to maintain a status quo in the region.

In the last two years, 654 km of road was constructed in states that share border with China. While Jammu and Kashmir, which shares a border with Pakistan, recorded the maximum construction of 283 km, Sikkim had only 49 km road construction since 2015. This year has been even worse for Sikkim with only 6.7 km of road construction taking place.

Director General Staff Duties Lt Gen. Vijay Singh, briefing on the deliberations said it was decided that there would be considerable 'heft' towards road construction activities in the northern sector.

He said it was decided to grant additional funds to Border Roads Organisation, a defence ministry entity, for development of roads and other infrastructure.

In Arunachal Pradesh 200 km of roads was built since 2015-16, 40 km was constructed in Himachal Pradesh and 82 km in Uttarakhand. Several deadlines have been missed for construction of 61 roads covering 3417 km that were planned between 2015 and 2020.

In his address at the week-long conference that began here on Monday, Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat asked the commanders to be prepared for all eventualities at "all times" while Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised the need to guard against "inimical forces."