Tezpur: A day after Union Defence Minister inaugurated some strategic road projects in Arunachal Pradesh, former Lok Sabha MP and Congress' sitting MLA from Pasighat constituency of Arunachal Pradesh Ninong Ering have requested Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to complete the rail connectivity projects in the frontier state taking into consideration the issue of national security.
Referring to the recent development on the other side of the border, Ering pointed out that China had recently completed a trial run of a high-speed train between the Lhasa and Nyingchi sector in the Tibet region. It is worth noting, Nyingchi is just 40 km away from Tuting and situated in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
"While I have nothing to say against the infrastructure developments projects of China but setting up a high-speed railway line is definitely a red alert for us. I have also taken up the issues of infrastructure development projects of China near Tawang, Anini, Anjaw when I was in the parliament. The issue is while China has been spending so hugely on developing the infrastructure along the Arunachal Pradesh border, we are yet to complete the proposed rail projects on our side," he said.
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Referring to the proposed rail link expansion project from Pasighat to Murkongselek along the international border, Ering said the project got stalled on the ground that the cost of land required for the project is too high. "While China has spent so hugely on developing infrastructure and facilitating the movement of troops to the border, is it justified that our government abandon a 35 km rail line project simply because of the high land price?" asked Ering.
"I have written a letter to the Central government today on this and sought to know that if we will just be a mute spectator of the development on the other side of the border or will take up steps to strengthen the rail network in the frontier areas for the betterment of the nation as a whole," added Ering.
He also thanked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for inaugurating some strategic road projects in the frontier state recently including the dedication of the strategic 20 km long Kimin-Potin road to the nation in a programme held at Kimin at the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
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