INS Hansa, Goa : India today made it clear that the recent border spat with China will have no impact on the ongoing infrastructure development projects along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which had irked Beijing.
Defence Minister A K Antony told mediapersons after commissioning the first Mig-29K squadron of Indian Navy here that India had the right to carry out activities inside its territory just as China was within its right to strengthen its position on the other side.
Ongoing projects would continue unabated, he said adding that India has been firming up its defences all along the LAC by adding more troops, activating airstrips, constructing roads and rail links. The work has been going on for some years now and it has begun to bother China.
The Defence Minister refused to be drawn in the controversy over any “deal” with China for ending the three-week-long border row. It was claimed that India had agreed to remove some bunkers in the Chumar sector in south eastern Ladakh as a quid pro quo for withdrawal of Chinese troops from Raki Nala in the Depsang valley around 30 kms south of DBO.
Mr Antony emphasised that the two sides had agreed to maintain status quo ante as existed on April 15 — the day Chinese troops pitched 5 tents 19 kms inside India’s territory .
The bunkers in Chumar, which also falls in the disputed zone along the LAC, were learnt to be constructed in response to the Chinese incursion and the Indian side maintained that they were only observation posts whose removal will have no impact on the surveillance apparatus in the area.
Mr Antony also said the border management agreement talks are underway. An official from the Ministry of External Affairs and another from the army are engaged in discussions. He said it would be premature to comment on the status of negotiations. (agencies)
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