Sela Tunnel: A strategic landmark in India’s northeastern border space

The significance of the Sela Tunnel in connecting the West Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh revitalises the perception of development in India’s northeastern border space. The road distance from the Sela Pass tunnel to Bumal Pass at the India-China border is approximately 115 km. It is a critical infrastructure asset that ensures strategic strength and economic empowerment. It delivers a dual purpose.

Security and economy are its two key deliverables. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) completed the world’s longest bi-lane tunnel, costing Rs 825 crore. There are two tunnels built, consisting of 1,595 metres and 1,003 metres, with the provision of escape routes for any possible eventualities, addressing the geo-sensitivity of the region from the geological and other non-geological perspectives. Proper safety arrangements have been made to meet all probable challenges, including light, fire safety, and ventilation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sela Tunnel on March 9, 2024, and declared it open for public use. In his address on the occasion at Itanagar, he highlighted the Sela tunnel as a connectivity milestone in the North East. He asked the youth of India to visit the state and witness the grand tunnel located at 13,000 feet above sea level. The tunnel construction started in 2019 and was completed in 2024. The Covid 19 slowed the progress in a limited way, but it acquired good speed in the post-pandemic period.

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The result is now seen as a formidable tunnel that eases the connectivity linkages with Tawang. The all-weather Sela tunnel reduces the distance between Tezpur and Tawang. It also accelerates uninterrupted connectivity involving Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang (BCT) road formulation. The time taken to reach Tawang by conventional path will be reduced. It decouples dependencies on the narrow road, which causes severe congestion if two military vehicles approach each other from opposite directions. Negotiating the vehicles at Sela Pass during the winter and rainy seasons took a lot of work. The freezing winter and snow-filled roads at the Sela Pass used to make commuting difficult. During the rainy season, the chances of landslides impose grave danger for ordinary people and defence personnel.

The sense of disconnect because of climatic reasons was a worrying factor. The circuitous single-lane road that passes the Sela Pass embodies the surprise of getting stranded in the event of any climatic interventions. With no alternatives, the connectivity to Tawang, a critical border area, ensured a safe and swift passage. The tunnel reduces several bottlenecks and facilitates unimpeded connectivity. This is, therefore, a significant achievement of the current government at the centre and demonstrates the attention it gives to the North East.

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Infrastructure always plays a critical role in facilitating economic activity and security. At a border space, its significance ensures security, defence preparedness, and a swift supply of military logistics to address the emergence of any eventuality. On the economic front, the vision of the prime minister, as highlighted in the speech, to encourage entrepreneurship, industry, and start-ups will gain necessary amplification with robust infrastructure. He also mentioned that the palm cultivation and edible oil production projects in Arunachal Pradesh will accelerate the self-reliant Bharat framework and generate scope for employability for the locals. It will give a fillip to the economic activities in the region.

Equitable development is the new mantra, and the North East is gradually becoming as developed as the rest of India. A comprehensive growth encompassing all regions is the aspiration that found its grounds with the opening up of the Sela tunnel.

Apart from economics, the Chinese deceptive geopolitics in the region have increased the temperature of the border space in Tawang. Its reluctance to accept the specifics of the McMahon Line, its irrational cartographic exercise, the salami slicing model, and its low-intensity clashes in the Tawang region in 2022 constitute the sensitivity of the border space.

India has given a fitting reply to Beijing’s territorial aspirations. In this context, the Sela tunnel becomes a critical infrastructure for serving India’s defence interests. It presents a great deterrent to Chinese whimsicalities. The troop deployment, replenishment, and logistics transfer from the Assam planes have become easier and faster. A swift retaliation from the Indian side using the tunnel makes the latter a military asset.

The vulnerability of visibility by travelling and supplying military and civilian logistics using the conventional path could have been targeted by the enemy side because of the height of the Sela Pass. The tunnel will generate significant obscurity and resist the determinacy of movement from a distance by the enemy camp.

Weaponising the height for tracking any military preparedness will be circumvented. This strategic asset gives India the necessary confidence and enhances its deterrence capacity and offensive options. It is expected to reduce the geopolitical gravity exercised by China by inducing infrastructure on the other side of the border. The work-in-progress frontier highway will add to India’s infrastructural weight once it becomes an operational reality. It will upgrade India’s defence capacity and present opportunities for intensive economic activity and ease of communication.

Apart from being a strategic asset, the tunnel will also encourage tourism. Buddhism and the breathtaking landscape constitute a compelling attraction for people to go for holidaying and relaxing in a beautiful environment with great hospitality, fresh air, authentic local food, and colourful Buddhist flags with mantras inscribed on them. The tunnel will make Tawang a tourist hotspot, provide great relief from the busy and tedious city life, and open up economic avenues for the locals, making the state’s tourism economy robust, effective, and enduring.

Jajati K Pattnaik is an Associate Professor at the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Chandan K Panda is an Assistant Professor at Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.