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NEW DELHI : Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said border areas had been neglected in the past but were now a “top priority” of the Narendra Modi government, as he sought to counter claims of fresh Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh.
Rijiju also invoked former defence minister A K Antony’s 2013 statement in Parliament acknowledging India’s historical policy of keeping border areas underdeveloped, though Antony had then said that the approach had been discarded by successive governments much before the UPA came to power.
The remarks by Rijiju, who represents Arunachal West in the Lok Sabha, come amid renewed concerns over Chinese military activity in the Upper Subansiri region of Arunachal Pradesh.
In a separate post, he targeted the Congress over its record on border infrastructure.
“Amongst the Congress leaders, A.K. Anthony Ji is very honest. As Defence Minister he admitted the Congress Govt’s policy of not making border infrastructure on the floor of the Parliament,” he said.
Rijiju was referring to Antony’s remarks in the Lok Sabha on September 6, 2013, when the then defence minister acknowledged that China had built significantly better infrastructure along the border and attributed India’s lag to a policy followed for decades after Independence.
Explaining the historical thinking behind the policy, Antony had said, “The independent India had a policy for many years that the best defence is not to develop the border. Undeveloped borders are safer than developed borders. So, for many years, there was no construction of roads or air fields on the border areas.”
“By that time, China continued to develop their infrastructure in the border areas. So, as a result, they have now gone ahead of us. Compared to us, infrastructure-wise, capability-wise in the border areas, they are ahead. I admit that. It is a part of history,” he had said.
Antony, however, had also said that India had realised the mistake and changed its approach 20 to 25 years before his 2013 statement.
“But, of late, in the last 20-25 years, the Indian governments also realised the mistake and changed its policy. Now, we are also strengthening our capabilities in the border areas…I can tell you, without any exaggeration, that only during the last nine years, as the UPA Government, we have done the maximum to strengthen the capabilities in the border areas. In times of UPA-I & UPA-II, it is being done. And may be the future governments also will continue the same thing, whoever comes, they will continue the same thing,” Antony had said.
On Wednesday, Rijiju had rejected claims that Chinese troops had penetrated as much as 60 km inside Arunachal Pradesh, but acknowledged concerns among local residents.
“India-China Border issue is a serious subject. Do not make false claim on such sensitive matter. We don’t want to repeat the past mistakes. Govt will address the concern of the local people and protect Indian Territory,” Rijiju wrote on X.
After the reports of tension along the border surfaced, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is critical to the overall relationship with China.
“In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on August 11.
“We have also stated that the state of the border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties,” he said, adding that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas was of “utmost importance”. (PTI)
