India inaugurated 28 pieces of infrastructure along the border with China on Tuesday.
Opening the pieces, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted the importance of better infrastructure in his country's border defense efforts.
"Recently, our forces effectively countered the adversary in the northern sector and dealt with the situation with bravery and promptness. This was made possible due to adequate infrastructural development in the region. This motivates us even more for the progress of far-flung areas," the minister said.
Despite the border movements, Singh emphasized that India does not desire war, but is willing to defend itself should war come.
"If war is imposed on us, we are ready to face any challenge," he stated.
The 28 projects include 22 bridges, including the Siyom bridge, and three roads. They are located in Ladakh (8), Arunachal Pradesh (5), Jammu and Kashmir (4), Sikkim (3), Punjab (3), Uttarakhand (3), and Rajasthan (2) states.
The Siyom bridge is a 100-meter-long steel arch superstructure that was unveiled by Singh during his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh state since the December clash with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).
It allows the military to deploy troops and heavy machinery, including weapons like howitzers and mechanized vehicles, to the front lines of the Upper Siang district, Tuting, and Yingkiong regions near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Indian army soldiers keep watch on a bunker at the Indo China border in Bumla at an altitude of 15,700 feet (4,700 meters) above sea level in Arunachal Pradesh, India, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.
© AP Photo / Anupam Nath
India has accused China of increasing tensions between the two countries and failing to adhere to border agreements.
"We had agreements with China not to mass forces in our border areas and they have not observed those agreements, which is why we have the currently tense situation. We had an agreement not to unilaterally change the line of control, which they have tried to unilaterally do," Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in an interview with Austrian media on Tuesday.
In recent years, India has worked to reduce the infrastructure gap between itself and China along the 3,488 km LAC by building roads, tunnels, bridges, troop quarters, permanent defenses, helipads, and airfields.
On December 9, a clash between the Indian and Chinese militaries occurred in the Yangtse sector of Arunachal Pradesh, resulting in injuries on both sides.
This was the first significant confrontation between the two sides since the 2020 Galwan conflict, in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops lost their lives.