Eurasia Border Review;Vol. 5, No. 1

FONT SIZE:  S M L

Territory, Roads and Trans-boundary Rivers : An Analysis of Indian Infrastructure Building along the Sino-Indian Border in Arunachal Pradesh

Rahman, Mirza Zulfiqur

Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/57846

Abstract

This paper offers an analysis of Indian infrastructure building in the border province of Arunachal Pradesh along the aspects of territory, roads, and trans-boundary rivers. Several infrastructure projects undertaken by New Delhi in Arunachal Pradesh, have picked up pace in the past decade and have been seen as a concerted effort to strengthen the war preparedness of the armed forces given that China contests Indian claims over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh. Important road infrastructure projects are often politically portrayed within Arunachal Pradesh as priorities for rapidly bridging the huge developmental and connectivity gap for the various tribes inhabiting Arunachal Pradesh. Simultaneously, the road-building infrastructure is directed at creating conditions for government and private dam-building companies to carry heavy machinery, including turbines to dam project sites; the construction of these dams would, apart from economic benefits, also allow India to stake its riparian rights over trans-boundary river waters with China. Along with territory and transboundary water aspects being linked, the aspect of trans-boundary water sharing and management of the Yarlung Tsangpo and the Brahmaputra will have spillover effects on Sino-Indian territorial contestations.

FULL TEXT:PDF