How BRO is scaling up India's border infrastructure at LAC to counter Chinese moves

There are a large number of conflicts continuing the world over between various nations. Though there are numerous reasons for such conflicts but majority of them are due to contested geographical spaces. The nations apply different methods to terminate such conflicts to their advantage which include political, diplomatic, Track Ⅱ, mediation and warfighting being some of these methods. India has the highest share of such conflicts in the World since it gained independence. It had to integrate more than 500 princely states into independent India some of which also necessitated war fighting as well. Having fought four wars with Pakistan and one with China, India continues to have conflict-prone borders on both of its sides viz. with Pakistan in the West and China in the north. The worst part is that both China and Pakistan are having intimate collusivity directed against India. The borders have another peculiarity i.e., both countries are occupying large tracts of Indian land. Pakistan is in possession of the PoK which is close to one-third of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state while China is occupying Aksai Chin. As it was not enough, India has a conflict-prone Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan and a Line of Actual Control (LAC ) with China along with Pakistan ceding Saksgam Valley to China as well as permitting huge infrastructure projects in the form of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the occupied area of POK adding complexity to the issue. Both China and Pakistan have made substantial efforts to develop border infrastructure close to LAC/LOC. While infrastructure development by Pakistan is not much of a concern, the same by China appears to be alarming. India did not focus on the development of border infrastructure adequately due to various reasons in the initial decades post gaining independence, one of the reasons being the apprehension that the adversary would use it for its offensive intent. This thought was more pronounced after the 1962 war debacle and India continued with its defensive mindset for close to six decades. The development of border infrastructure is an acceptable and valid international basis to demonstrate control of the territory and therefore it is an important step to reinforce the territorial integrity. China has leveraged this approach substantially all along the LAC, be it in Aksai Chin, opposite Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well as opposite Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. An extensive network of axials and laterals have been laid out in addition to the creation of airfields, helipads, storage accommodation and stocking cum staging options for the forces and resources required for war waging. Such an act has not only given China the advantage of asserting its authority but also mobilisation of forces as well as resources for application in a particular sector along with their side-stepping has also become much easier in case of a conflict. While India has revisualised its defensive and territorial integrity needs for close to a decade now but real push has been given by the current team of Border Road Organisation (BRO) since 2021, after the Galwan clash with China. When a country amasses troops and warlike stores close to border /LOC/LAC, it indicates the intent of direct conflicts whereas border infrastructure development can be a better and effective tool to use it as a potent weapon against the adversary and that too without raising the ante that much. This is what is being done by the BRO team wherein they are not only creating the border infrastructure for making the defence forces more ready for any future conflicts but it is also asserting our territorial claims in the areas where border infrastructure is being created. Though the details of border infrastructure being created by the BRO will encompass a long list the important developments and their implications are covered in succeeding paras as under:

• More than 70 roads have been progressed with a primary focus on China. There are in the form of axials and laterals which will allow faster mobilization of troops as well as their sidestepping to more threatened areas. This capacity will virtually enhance the combat power effectively to three times as compared to what existed prior to 2020. It will integrate the border population better, strengthen them economically and arrest the reverse migration of the population which is critical to assert our national authority in the border areas.

• The entire LAC with China has high mountains through which various rivers/water streams flow which makes the forward areas inaccessible due to lack of bridges. BRO has identified this need and has been progressing close to 200 bridges since 2021 critically enhancing the connectivity of the road infrastructure. It is not only important to lay these bridges but also to ensure that these are of requisite classification as the lowest link demonstrates the capability of road trafficability. It is important that these bridges allow the movement of tanks, BMPs and artillery guns in addition to other long-range vectors.

• Due to the nature of the terrain on the Chinese border, large No of areas used to become inaccessible during winter months where urgent operational resources in terms of men and material could only be moved by air. Due to limited carrying capacity through the air resources combined with the adverse impact of the weather, this was not only a major operational constraint for the defence forces but it was also cost prohibitive including affecting the local population adversely.  BRO has identified this critical need and has constructed /are constructing numerous tunnels to ensure all weather connectivity from  Ladakh as well as that with Arunachal Pradesh. With road connectivity being available around the year, a large quantum of revenue budget required to sustain the troops will be saved and the same can be utilized for the capital expenditure for the capacity creation of the defence forces. It is obvious that the civil population will be greatly helped in all domains including enhancement of their economic needs. A more integrated country will emerge in the process.

The action of BRO is not only limited to the above three aspects but it includes the development of airfields, helipads, habitat and storage facilities. In addition to using its intrinsic capability, it has also leveraged the national capacities of other organisations working in the connected fields. BRO has thus weaponised the border infrastructure against our adversaries in the most effective manner. As time progresses, the infrastructure gradient in favour of China will be negated. A time will come when it will be in our favour if BRO can continue with this infrastructure push till the end of this decade. The writer is a retired army veteran. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.