The rivalry between India and China gets momentum as India has planned to build their airport in Tawang – one of the 16 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern part of the South Asian country.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh has made an announcement in this regard in New Delhi, saying that the Narendra Modi government is hopeful of building the airport in the coming months. He also said that the construction work is underway for another airport at Pashighat in the north-eastern Indian province. Singh met the press in the Indian capital soon after China approved the construction of a new strategically important high altitude railway track in Tibet.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh has made an announcement in this regard in New Delhi, saying that the Narendra Modi government is hopeful of building the airport in the coming months. He also said that the construction work is underway for another airport at Pashighat in the north-eastern Indian province. Singh met the press in the Indian capital soon after China approved the construction of a new strategically important high altitude railway track in Tibet.
According to sources close to Beijing, China will implement the project worth USD 6 billion close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, the Indian minister said that the government is facing a problem regarding the land availability in Tawang. “The land acquisition problem for the airport in Itanagar – the capital of Arunachal Pradesh – has just been sorted out,” Singh stressed, adding that the proposed airport will be built mainly for smaller aircraft. He further expressed concern over Chinese dams near the Indian province and said that the dams are posing threat to the people living in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River.
“In the early 1950s, a major earthquake took place and changed the course of Brahmaputra. The riverbed also went up. We have to see how much water comes from China and how much is contributed by its different tributaries, like the Lohit,” he told the press. Earlier on Saturday, a senior Chinese official claimed that the concerned authorities in Beijing have approved the feasibility report for the construction of the railway track to link the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with Nyingchi.
According to the official, the designed speed for passenger trains on this line will be 160km per hour and the line will also have a cargo capacity of 10 million tonnes per year. He further said that the railway expansion project in Tibet also aims to connect neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India by the end of 2020. However, India has opposed the Chinese plan, saying that such an aggressive move will never help the two Asian neighbours resolve their disputes over the eastern part of their border.
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