Border infrastructure along theSino-Indian border, which hasseveral border areas disputed by bothIndia andChina, encompasses irrigation, roads, railways, airports, natural gas and oil pipelines, electricity grids, telecommunications, and broadcasting. In the context of the border tensions between India and China, many of these infrastructure projects in the borderlands are considered strategic in nature. Commentators have noted the infrastructure gap that existed, and still exists, between the infrastructure on the borderlands of India and China.[1] For many decades, the approach taken to the construction of border infrastructure by China and India was significantly different,[2] however, in terms of utilizing the natural resources of the borderlands for the needs of the country, both countries are said to have a similar approach.[3]
TheLine of Actual Control (LAC) is the disputed border between India and China, which has led to the ongoingSino-Indian border dispute. There are designatedBorder Personnel Meeting Points (BPM Points or BPMP) on LAC, mutually agreed by India and China, for conducting meeting to resolve the dispute.[4]
Chinese Military has an integratedWestern Theater Command (WTC) across the whole LAC with India. Western Theater Command also covers provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Chongqing.[5]
Indian Military has divided the LAC into 3 sectors – thenorthern sector (some times also calledwestern sector) acrossLadakh and the Chinese-held Aksai Chin, thecentral sector acrossHimachal Pradesh andUttrakhand states, and theeastern sector acrossSikkim and Arunachal Pradesh states.[6][7]
SeeChina's air infrastructure in Western Theater.
China has built several roads along Indian border:
China is constructing theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) inAzad Kashmir which is an area claimed by India. India also claims the nearbyTrans-Karakoram Tract (Shaksgam Valley) ceded to China by Pakistan. Pakistan and China have also built the strategicKarakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan-held India-claimedGilgit to Xinjiang.[15]
China has developed a number of "xiaokang" or "model well-off border defence villages".[16] The number of villages reportedly– range from 624,[16][17] and 680,[18][19] to 965.[17] Some of the new Chinese border villages (with claimed location) are as follows:
See theIndian air bases and advanced landing grounds (ALG) along China border.
India has identified the specificPatrol Points with the specified route and the maximum depth up to which Indian troops usually patrol into the disputed territory on LAC. Patrolling points provide a truer sense of the extent of India's limits of actual control.[26][27][28]
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Some of that Indian railway projects serving the border with China are:
India has embarked on constructingIndia-China Border Roads.
Under the 4G Saturation project, theBSNL will set up 20,000 4G towers in 30,000 border villages at the cost of ₹26,000 crore rupees from the Universal Service Obligation Fund. As of May 2023 the project was already underway and it will be completed in 15 months by 31 July 2024.Today, India has about 640,000 villages, of which 575,000 have been covered by mobile telephony and data connectivity, leaving a gap of 65,000 villages without connectivity, of these 40,000 villages are being covered under the border village plan. Under the 4G saturation plan, the government wants to connect 100% villages with 4G services by 2024.[29]
India has two non-overlapping distinct schemes, theVibrant Village Program (VVP) specifically for the Indian villages on border with China and theBorder Area Development Programme (BADP) for Indian villages on border with all the neighboring countries including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, etc.[30]
Vibrant Village Program (VVP) phase-1 has₹4,800crore (US$570 million), including₹2,500crore (US$300 million) for the roads alone, centrally sponsored scheme budget for the fy2022-23 to fy2025-26 3-year period to comprehensively develop 662 villages with a population of 142,000 on India-China border in the states ofArunachal Pradesh,Sikkim,Uttarakhand andHimachal Pradesh and theUnion Territory of Ladakh. Eventually the scheme will cover all 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 border districts for the comprehensive development in the subsequent phases. The district administrator will prepare the district and village level plans with the help ofgrampanchayats (elected Village council) in a "hub & spokes" based growth centers model by identifying natural & human resources to develop tourism & eco-agriculture, comprehensive infrastructure including electricity, communications, healthcare, roads, startups, social enterprises, youth and woman entered empowerment, etc. to stop the outward migration. NGOs, self help groups (SHG) and cooperatives will also be included.[30]
To boost theastrotourism in India, the government is setting upobservatories atJadhang and some other places under this program.[31]
The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was initiated in the 1980s along the western border with Pakistan. By June 2020, the scheme covered nearly 400 blocks in 111 border districts in 18 states and union territories.[4] This scheme extends to development projects within 10 km of the border.[note 1] Projects can include roads, bridges, health facilities, primary schools, irrigation, and sports facilities.[4] In 2019–20, the scheme was allotted₹825crore (equivalent to₹971 crore or US$110 million in 2023), while in 2020–21 it was allotted₹784crore (equivalent to₹923 crore or US$110 million in 2023).[4]
In 1997, BADP started inArunachal Pradesh. It first applied to the Indo-Myanmar Border and in 1998 was extended to the Indo-China and Indo-Bhutan borders.[33] Even after ten years, BADP was unable to provide development to the over 1500 villages in the border blocks of Arunachal Pradesh; "the border blocks are yet to be opened up and are in utter backwardness due to their isolation and inaccessibility".[33] ANITI Aayog evaluation study for the period 2007–2011 and published in 2015 found that while the heads ofGram Panchayats (GPs) gave positive feedback related to BADP, and while people have benefitted in some ways, the requirement of border villages in Arunachal Pradesh were so great that they couldn't be met by BADP in one go:[34]
...of the 21 GPs surveyed, only six were connected by all-weather roads; electricity was available in only seven of them; tap water was available only in five; none of the GPs surveyed had fixed line telephones. Only two of the 21 GPs had PDS shops; some villages were almost 25 km away from these shops. Several villages did not even have primary schools and anganwadi centres.
Arunachal Pradesh has 455 villages under vibrant village scheme. Of these, 135 villages are designated as priority villages, because they are not yet connected by the roads. In January 2024, the central Ministry of Rural Development approved Rs 2,205 crores project to connect these 125 unconnected villages in Arunachal with 105 roads of total distance of 1,022 km. Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are being prepared for these 105 road. Remaining 10 villages are not being considered presently because of issues related to the land acquisition.[35]
| District | Block | No of Villages | Pop (2001 census) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tawang | Tawang | 37 | 12949 |
| Kitpi | 47 | 4853 | |
| West Kameng | Nafra | 29 | 13644 |
| East Kameng | Bameng | 69 | 9244 |
| Chayngtajo | 68 | 10881 | |
| Kurung Kumey | Huri-Damin | 32 | 2957 |
| Pipsorang | 32 | 2206 | |
| Sarli | 36 | 1951 | |
| Koloriang | 52 | 4798 | |
| Parsi-Parlo | 43 | 3226 | |
| Upper Subansiri | Nacho | 65 | 5249 |
| Siyum | 48 | 4080 | |
| West Siang | Mechuka | 45 | 6244 |
| Monigong | 34 | 3025 | |
| Kaying-Payum | 25 | 5543 | |
| Upper Siang | Tuting | 16 | 5874 |
| Singa-Gelling | 18 | 1692 | |
| Lower Dibang Valley | Hunli | 41 | 3114 |
| Dibang Valley | Anini-Mipi | 38 | 4344 |
| Etalin-Maliney | 28 | 1575 | |
| Aneli-Arzoo | 34 | 1353 | |
| Anjaw | Chaglagam | 42 | 2412 |
| Hayuliang | 92 | 10262 | |
| Total | 962 | 121476 |
TheBharat Ranbhoomi Darshan is an initiative of the Indian Military which will boost border tourism, patriotism, local infrastructure and economy while reversing civilian outward migration from these remote locations, it entails 77 battleground war memorials in border area including theLongewala War Memorial,Sadhewala War Memorial,[36]Tanot Mata,Siachen base camp,Kargil,Galwan,Pangong Tso,Rezang La,Doklam,Bum La,Cho La,Kibithu, etc.[37]
