[India] On Oct. 12, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced to the nation 75 infrastructure projects worth ₹ 2,236 crore, significantly increasing military mobility and logistical support in advanced areas along the Chinese border.
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The projects, implemented by the Border Roads Organization (BRO), include roads, bridges and tunnels in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Singh will inaugurate the Kupupup-Sherathang strategic road and virtually launch the remaining 74 projects, bringing the total count of BRO projects dedicated this year to 111, worth ₹ 3,751 crore.
The development comes amid China's continued infrastructure expansion along its border with India. India has completed 450 infrastructure projects worth ₹ 16,000 crore in the past five years, aiming to close the gap with China's border infrastructure.
Tensions continue to persist between Beijing and India along the northeastern border near the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh-which China considers to be part of Tibet and, therefore, part of its territory - and near the Aksai Chin region at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau. Chinese and Indian patrols meet regularly along the disputed border, and the sides often accuse each other of illegitimate incursions.
Since 1962, China and India have been engaged in numerous clashes along that border. After Xi assumed power in 2012, there was a significant increase in clashes, despite the fact that he met several times with the Indian prime minister and agreed on confidence-building mechanisms to mitigate tensions.
Before 2013, the last major contrast had occurred in 1987. In contrast, the 1950s and early 1960s had been a particularly tense period, culminating in 1962 with a war that resulted in the deaths of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
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