In August last year, in a debate in the parliament after the abrogation of Article 370, Home Minister Amit Shah had said, “Kashmir is an integral part of India… When I talk about Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are included in it”. Citing the Constitution vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir’s boundary, Shah added, “We will give our lives for this region”.
The Indian constitution demarcates Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin as Indian Territory, although no attempt to take back the region lost to China after the defeat in 1962 war has been taken so far. But, in the last few years, Modi government has increased the infrastructure construction activity on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.
The infrastructure building within 2-3 km range of LAC has alerted the Chinese armed forces. Border Road Organization (BRO), is building roads and bridges on the Indian side for better and quick movement of Indian forces. The construction activity is not limited to Eastern Ladakh, where the current standoff is taking place, but throughout the Chinese border, right from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
Chinese armed forces and the Chinese government have objected to construction, as they fear that a better infrastructure would give India advantage in the region. However, despite Chinese objection, the government has continued to build road and bridges in strategic areas.
The largest and the most important road, Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Indian government did not stop the construction activity despite yesterday’s physical brawl, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties. “At some stretches, there is a need for blacktopping the surface of the road where vehicles are still playing. The work is to be completed on eight bridge locations at different stretches also,” said sources from armed forces.
In fact, India has now accelerated construction project, and 1,600 laborers were called from Jharkhand were called in order to complete the remaining work of construction. “The workforce in Jharkhand is considered to be the most suited for the work in these hilly terrains as they adapt to the conditions quite well,” reported Times of India.
The Chinese side fears that once the infrastructure is complete, India armed forces would attack to take back Aksai Chin, as promised by Home Minister Amit Shah in Indian parliament. And given the fact that talks about taking back PoK and Aksai Chin have started in the policy circles in the last few years, one cannot deny the possibilities of Indian government actually going for it.