Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday while addressing the Border Area Development Conclave in New Delhi emphasised promoting tourism in border areas. He also claimed that the present BJP government has constructed a massive network of roads and provided internet connection to the border villages, with focus on Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The defence minister’s announcement that the government will emphasise promoting tourism in the border area is a very interesting move. One of the main complaints of the people of Arunachal Pradesh has been the decision of the security forces to deny access to the border areas. There are many potential tourist areas along the India-China border to which even locals do not have access.
The security forces do not allow people to visit many of these places. The announcement of the defence minister shows that maybe the Centre is rethinking it. The only way to counter Chinese incursion into Indian territory is to allow local people access to the border areas. The constant movement of people along LAC without compromising national security should be allowed. Also, Rajnath Singh’s claim that the present government has constructed a massive network of roads and provided internet connections in border villages of Arunachal is boastful. Still, many border villages in the state do not have proper roads. Forget about internet connection, many even don’t have a basic phone connection. There is much work to do to improve road and internet connection.