Importance of transport infrastructure development in Arunachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control

By Rupak Bhattacharjee

The development of transport infrastructure in India’s easternmost state Arunachal Pradesh, which shares 1080 kilometre-long disputed border with China, assumes significance in the context of the country’s security interests and economic development of this isolated region. In the wake of China’s growing aggression and hegemoy that were well demonstrated during the recent border conflict in Ladakh, the improvement of Arunachal’s transport infrastructure has become all the more necessary. This paper seeks to analyse the Centre’s current transport infrastructure projects, including roadways, railways, airways, bridges and inland waterways to improve connectivity in the frontier state. The major focus of the paper is to evaluate both state and central government’s efforts to address the twin challenges facing Arunachal—security and development, against the backdrop of China’s massive infrastructure development in Tibet. An attempt has also been made to recommend policy measures regarding the improvement of Arunachal’s transport infrastructure to attain sustainable development and ensuring India’s security and territorial integrity. The primary and secondary source data have been subjected to a rigorous test of content analysis.

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