In a bid to improve patrolling along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, the government has approved the building of 18 border patrol foot tracks in accordance with the proposal from a committee of Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The 18 border foot tracks will cover an area of 600 km and will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,162 crore. This would enhance the patrolling capabilities of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and will also help in infrastructure development in inaccessible areas adjoining China.
The development of border infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh gains significance as the state alone accounts for 1,126 km of the 3,488 km long border between India and China. The rest of the border territory lies in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh.
It should be noted that the approval for the construction of 18 foot tracks comes about a year after a proposal in this regard had been pitched by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Thus, the project is not connected to the ongoing India-China border tensions in Eastern Ladakh territory.