New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Friday termed natural disasters in Himalayan border states — like sudden landslides — a national security issue and sought to increase cooperation with friendly countries to rule out the role of any “adversary” in these, an indirect reference to China, whose territory also extends to the Himalayan region.
His remarks came while inaugurating 35 projects by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath, which included 29 bridges and six roads across seven states and Union territories.
Singh said certain border states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Union territories like Ladakh “have noticed an increase in the number of natural disasters in recent years”.
“The Himalayas extend to other states as well, but such incidents are confined to certain states only and we cannot ignore that,” he added.
Other countries whose territory extends to the Himalayas are Nepal, Bhutan and China.
Singh said many experts believed that these natural disasters were an outcome of climate change.
“Climate change in the country is not just a weather-related phenomenon but the matter is related to national security. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has taken it very seriously and will seek help from friendly countries to study and rule out any involvement of any of our adversaries on this issue,” he said.
India is currently in the middle of a massive infrastructure development plan along the border with China to strengthen its military capabilities.
During his address, Singh also said his government considers border areas to be the face of India.
“There was a time when border infrastructure was not given much importance. Governments used to work with the mentality that the people living in the plains were mainstream people. They were worried that development on the border might be used by the adversary. Due to this narrow mentality, development never reached the border areas. This thinking has changed today,” the defence minister said.
He added that under the leadership of Narendra Modi, “our government is committed to the development of border areas, keeping in view the nation’s security needs. We do not consider these areas as buffer zones. They are a part of our mainstream”.
Out of the 35 projects inaugurated Friday, 29 were bridges and six were roads. Eleven of them are in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Ladakh, eight in Arunachal Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, two in Sikkim; and one each in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh. They cost a total of Rs 670 crore.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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