By IANS
Nathu La (Sikkim) : India needs to dramatically improve its border roads’ network if it is to keep pace with developments on the Chinese side, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said here Sunday.
“Infrastructure on the other side is far, far superior. This is an eye opener,” the minister told reporters after his first visit to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
“There is no comparison between their side and our side and that is an eye-opener,” he added.
Antony’s remarks apart, there was much bonhomie on the frontier on the cold winter morning, with a sharp breeze considerably increasing the wind chill factor.
Amidst smiles all around, the minister freely shook hands with a handful of officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the other side of the thin barbed wire fence that marks the frontier as Indian and Chinese photographers furiously clicked away to record the historic moment.
The visit was the first by an Indian defence minister since 2004 to Nathu La.
The pass was quiet when PLA troops invaded India in through other passes in Assam and what is now Arunachal Pradesh in 1962, leading to a brief but bitter war. There was, however, a major flare-up in 1967 when China objected to a fence India was erecting at the pass.
The 1962 conflict and its aftermath saw relations between the two countries frosting till the mid-1980s. India and China have now put a mechanism in place to move ahead on the military, political, economic and cultural fronts even as their Special Representatives have held 11 rounds of discussions to resolve the vexed border issue.
Indicative of the growing warmth, Antony said in Sikkim capital Gangtok Saturday that officers of the two armies had just concluded talks on the dates for their first war games.
“Another round of discussions will be held and if all goes well, the exercise should be held later this month,” Antony said Saturday.
In all this, the minister made it clear that the development of border infrastructure was uppermost in his mind.
“I am very happy now that I have got to know the situation. I will very, very vigorously champion the cause of the armed forces (as) I understand their responsibility in aggressively developing infrastructure,” Antony maintained.
“We need to develop infrastructure not only for the army but also for the civilian population. We have to take it up seriously,” he added.
Answering a question on the resumption of India-China border trade through Nathu La a year ago, the minister said: “Our idea is to increase this gradually.
“This is a good beginning. I hope in the years to come, more and more items will be included for trade. It is a gradual process. People of both sides will benefit out of it, but before that, we have to develop our infrastructure,” the minister added.
During the visit, Brig. S.L. Narasimhan, commander of the 63 Brigade that is tasked with guarding Nathu La, briefed Antony on the ground situation on the border.
The Indian Army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor; the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command, Lt. Gen. K.S. Jamwal; Maj. Gen. Vijay Singh Lalotra, General Officer Commanding of the 17 Mountain Division that guards Sikkim; and Bimal Jhulka, joint secretary in the defence ministry, accompanied Antony on the visit.