New Delhi: Asserting the trade corridors are very essential, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said India faces different challenges and opportunities at the land borders with seven nations.


“Our trade corridors are very essential,” said Shah at the 10th Foundation Day of the Land Ports Authority of India.


“We face different challenges and opportunities at our land borders with seven countries (China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh),” he added, ANI reported.


Established as a statutory body under the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Land Ports Authority of India is entrusted with the task of building land ports on India’s borders.


The Land Ports Authority of India provides state of the art infrastructure facilities to facilitate seamless and efficient movement of cargo and passengers with an overall objective of reducing dwell time and trade transaction costs, promote regional trade and people-to-people contact and imbibe the best international practices.


In a bid to strengthen the border villages with focus on national security, the ruling dispensation has in this year’s budget decided to expand the National Highway network to 25,000 kms in 2022-2023.


In tune with the same, the PM Gati Shakti programme envisaging coordinated planning across the Central government ministries and states will be at the heart of infrastructure development in the country. The Parvatmala scheme is being started for areas like Himachal, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east.


This plan will facilitate modern system of transport and connectivity in the hills.