A day after Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 44 new bridges built by BRO to ease the movement of the armed forces in strategically important areas along the border with China and Pakistan, Beijing reacted to the development, saying it does not recognise Ladakh as Indian territory.
#Breaking
— Geeta Mohan گیتا موہن गीता मोहन (@Geeta_Mohan) October 13, 2020
China says it doesn’t “recognise” #Ladakh as Indian territory and asks India to refrain from “ramping up” infrastructure.
This even as China herself has been building infrastructure…#IndiaChinaStandoff #Ladakh #India #China@MFA_China 👇 https://t.co/KjOon6vHBk pic.twitter.com/efcBERY0l7
Raising questions over the sovereignty of Union Territory of Ladakh, China said that it does not recognise the Union Territory of Ladakh, “illegally established by India” and also Arunachal Pradesh. It added that it stands against the development of infrastructure facilities aimed at military contention along the border area.
“Based on two sides’ consensus, neither should take action that might escalate the situation…For some time now, India has been ramping up infrastructure development along the border and stepping up military deployment, that is the root cause of the tensions between the two sides,” Beijing said notwithstanding the vigorous infrastructural development along its side of Line of Actual Control.
It also said, “Neither side should take any action in the area to complicate the situation and China opposes to any infrastructure constructions for the purpose of military monitoring and control.”
This threat is a fresh one in the long series of veiled threats that China has been issuing to India on a daily basis since the Galwan standoff.
India and China have been in a tense face-off along the Line of Actual Control since May this year when Indian forces manning the region found belligerent Chinese manoeuvres in the region. On more than one occasion, there had been flashpoints along the line of control between the two forces, most notably the Galwan Valley skirmishes and the subsequent “strategic readjustments” made by the Indian Forces in the South Bank region of Pangong Tso lake.
Rajnath Singh inaugurated 44 new strategic bridges in border areas
Since the outbreak of the standoff, India has been vigorously working to overcome its infrastructural deficiencies in the 7,000 KM long border it shares with its two hostile neighbours—China and Pakistan. Addressing the pressing issue of disparity in infrastructural development in border areas between India and China, India started on war-footing the construction of 44 bridges in key areas along the border in states that share boundaries with the aforementioned adversaries.
44 Bridges made by BRO across 7 States/ UTs (J&K-10 Ladakh-8 HP-2 Punjab-4 Uttarakhand-8 Arunachal-8 Sikkim-4) will be dedicated to the Nation by Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh in a short while from now. pic.twitter.com/zZZW3aTIsR
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) October 12, 2020
Yesterday, India’s Defence Minister—Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 44 bridges—out of which 8 are in Ladakh, 8 in Uttarakhand, 8 in Arunachal Pradesh, 4 in Sikkim, 2 in Himachal Pradesh and 2 in Punjab. The development of these bridges will help the armed forces in ensuring the quick movement of troops and weapons, which has seemingly raised China’s hackles.
