LAC, China on mind, PM visits Northeast 2nd time this month

Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura comes amid the Centre’s renewed focus on the region, with India’s neighbouring nations Bangladesh and Myanmar in ferment. Archis Mohan writes

- Archis Mohan writes

On his visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stones for multiple development and road-connectivity projects worth over %5,100 crore, including a state-of-the-art convention centre at Tawang, which lies close to India’s Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

He will visit Tripura later in the day.

Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh will be his first after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on August 31. At that meeting, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of peace and tranquillity on the border areas for continued development of bilateral relations.

According to a government press release issued on Sunday, in the “frontier district of Tawang”, the convention centre, located at over 9,820 feet, “will serve as a landmark facility to host national and international conferences, cultural festivals, and exhibitions”.

“With a capacity to host over 1,500 delegates, the Centre will meet global standards and support the tourism and cultural potential of the region,” it said.

China has in the past claimed Tawang to be its territory, which India rejects. There have been clashes between the two armies in the Tawang sector over the years, the most recent being on December 9, 2022.