Rajnath Singh To Inaugurate 43 Bridges In 7 States Today, Launch Tawang Tunnel Work Amid Ladakh Standoff

The Defence Minister would also lay the foundation stone of Nechiphu tunnel to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

(File Photo/AFP)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing border tussle with China along the Ladakh Line of Actual Control (LAC), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will on Thursday inaugurate, via video conferencing, 43 bridges in seven border states and Union Territories and lay the foundation of an important tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh. According to reports, 43 bridges are constructed by the Border Roads Organisation, 10 are in Jammu and Kashmir, eight each in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, seven in Ladakh, four each in Punjab and Sikkim, and two in Himachal Pradesh. The Defence Minister would also lay the foundation stone of Nechiphu tunnel to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The tunnel is expected to shorten the travel time to Tawang, 448 km northwest of state capital Itanagar and bordering China. Most of these bridges, including 7 in Ladakh where Indian Army is engaged in a border tussle with China's People Liberation Army (PLA), are in strategically important areas and will help the armed forces in ensuring quick movement of troops and weapons. "The defence minister will inaugurate the bridges in seven states and union territories at an online event on Wednesday," an official told news agency PTI. The inauguration of the bridges built by the Border Roads Organisation comes at a time when India is engaged in a bitter row with China in eastern Ladakh. The officials said Singh will also lay the foundation stone of the Nechiphu tunnel on a key road to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Amid the border row with China, India is expediting work on several key projects including on a strategic road linking Darcha in Himachal Pradesh with Ladakh that will criss-cross a number of high-altitude snow-bound passes. The nearly 290-km-long road will be crucial for the movement of troops and heavy weaponry into the frontier bases of the Ladakh region and will provide a crucial link to the Kargil region.