Explained: How India’s Vibrant Villages scheme in Arunachal is a way to secure borders along China

“The era is gone when anyone could encroach on our lands. Now, not even land equal to ‘sui ki noke’ (inch of land) can be encroached,” thundered India’s Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday as he stood on stage in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kibithoo and launched the government’s ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’. The timing of the home minister’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh is of significance; his two-day visit to the northeastern state comes days after Beijing announced Chinese names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh which the Dragon claims as the “southern part of Tibet”. Kibithoo, located in Arunachal Pradesh, is the first village to be part of the Centre’s Vibrant Villages programme.

But what exactly is the Vibrant Villages programme and what is the role it will play in securing Himalayan borders from China? Vibrant Villages, explained The Centre’s Vibrant Villages scheme is India’s answer to China’s model ‘xiaokang’ villages that have been built along the Line of Actual Control in China-occupied Tibet. According to a US Department of Defence report published in 2021, Beijing has constructed 628 such villages along the 3,488-km LAC, stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. Seeing that China was building up its presence, in 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Vibrant Villages project in her Budget speech and consequently, the Cabinet approved the programme for the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 4,800 crore. The Vibrant Villages Programme has identified 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts bordering on the north, including Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, and the UT of Ladakh, for complete development. In the first phase of this project, which is three-years-long, 662 villages will be developed. Of them, 455 are in Arunachal Pradesh. [caption id=“attachment_12437132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Home Minister Amit Shah waves to the crowds before launching the Vibrant Villages programme from Arunachal Pradesh’s Kibithoo. Image Courtesy: @amitshah/Twitter[/caption] The Narendra Modi-led government has said that objective of this programme is to raise the standard of living of the residents in the border communities and encouraging them to remain there, reversing migration from villages and, in turn, enhancing border security. As per the programme, the focus areas would be improving road connectivity, providing drinking water, electricity, mobile and internet connectivity, building tourist centres, multi-purpose centres, healthcare infrastructure, and wellness centres. The programme may sound benign but it’s a good way to counter China’s expansionist policy in the Northeast. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said earlier about the importance of this scheme, “Migration from border villages is bad for national security, and the budget has provisions to promote dynamic border villages.” Even GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Lt Gen R P Kalita echoed similar comments, emphasising the importance of well-populated border villages. Speaking to Swarajya, he said, “This is why China has built those model villages along the LAC. We need to incentivise the residents of villages on our side of the LAC to remain there, and for that to happen we need to provide all modern facilities and good livelihood opportunities to them.” The Vibrant Villages scheme will also see a boost to activities such as bee-keeping, improving agricultural yields, encouraging handicrafts and local products, and providing market linkages to them. Officials explain that the people of the border villages serve as the eyes and ears to the security forces. Their presence in villages along the LAC provide an effective counter to China and hence, the Dragon can’t lay claim easily on these areas. **Also read: Will we witness a repeat of 1962 border conflict with China?** Dragon breathes fire Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, his first as home minister, made Beijing see red. Shortly after the minister touched down in the northeastern state, China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a statement, “Zangnan is China’s territory. The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation.” For the unaware, Zangnan is what the Chinese call Arunachal Pradesh, laying claim to the land. This despite India stating unequivocally that Arunachal Pradesh is an “integral and inalienable part of India”. **Also read: As Dragon becomes assertive towards Arunachal, India must reconsider its stand on Tibet** This isn’t the first time that China has expressed anger at the presence of Indian officials in Arunachal Pradesh. It’s a script that plays out each time any senior official from the Indian government visits the state — even in 2021, when then Vice President Venkaiah Naidu travelled to the state. Beijing claims about 90,000 sq km of areas in Arunachal Pradesh of India to be a part of the territory of China and calls it Zangnan or south Tibet. [caption id=“attachment_12437152” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] China’s claim over Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh has a complex history that goes back to the British era. File image/AFP[/caption] China and its pursuit of Arunachal China has long coveted the state of Arunachal Pradesh, the largest state in the northeast. Its location — sharing international borders with Tibet to the north, and northwest, Bhutan towards the west and Myanmar to the east — makes it like a protective shield to the northeast. And while China may stake claim to the entire state, one area is of particular significance to Beijing — Tawang . Tawang houses Tawang Ganden Namgyal Lhatse or Tawang Monastery – the second largest monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. China cites historical ties between the Tawang monastery and Tibet’s Lhasa monastery to bolster its claims over Arunachal Pradesh. Moreover, when the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, he entered India through Tawang and sought refuge at the Tawang monastery for some time. Besides the cultural importance, Tawang also provides a strategic entry into India’s northeastern region. Defence experts state that an increased presence of China in Arunachal would help Beijing exert is influence in the area as well as negate India’s presence. These reasons combined make Arunachal Pradesh highly coveted by Beijing and the Asian giant continues to make moves to bolster its presence. In fact, earlier this month, China unilaterally renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh , including mountain peaks, residential areas, and rivers, claiming that they are actually a part of South Tibet. The Indian government rejected the announcement, saying that China has no territorial claims in the region. “This is not the first time that China is making such attempts, and we have criticised such attempts,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said during a press conference. Beijing had earlier unilaterally tried to rename places in the northeastern state in 2017 and most recently in 2021. Needless to say this won’t be the last time we see China needling in Arunachal. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.