India opens longest bridge on China border

International Desk: India has inaugurated a 9.15km (5.68-mile) bridge over the Lohit river, easily its longest ever, which connects the disputed state of Arunachal Pradesh with the north-eastern state of Assam.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its own, and refers to it as "southern Tibet".

Beijing recently strongly objected to India's decision to allow Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to visit the state and has also protested against the development of military infrastructure there.

But India has defended its right to do so.

"With China getting more and more aggressive, it is time we strengthened our physical infrastructure to defend our territory," India's junior Home Minister Khiren Rijiju, a native of Arunachal Pradesh, told journalists.

Mr Rijiju had earlier said that "Arunachal Pradesh is part of India and that reality will not change, regardless of who likes it or not".

Construction of the Dhola Sadiya bridge began in 2011.

"It was real tough work, a major engineering challenge, and the speed was slightly affected by some compensation issues," said an official from Navayuga Engineering, the company which constructed the bridge.

However, it was completed on schedule.

Apart from the bridge, India is constructing a two-lane trans-Arunachal highway, upgrading a World War Two vintage road and undertaking a further four projects to widen roads.

Another project, to upgrade a chain of advance landing grounds for heavy lift transport aircraft, has also moved at some speed. This is expected to improve India's strategic airlift capabilities.

Source: BBC



Risingbd/May 26, 2017/Mukul