Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (9 January) inaugurated various projects and also laid foundation stones for a number of schemes worth over Rs 4,000 crore in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar, the Times of India reports. Among other projects, PM Modi laid the foundation for the construction of the greenfield airport at Hollongi and inaugurated another retrofitted airport in Tezu, Lohit district using remote. PM Modi said that the NDA government has been giving a lot of significance to improve connectivity in the state. The prime minister said that the state is the gateway to the nation as it guards the frontier. Terming Arunachal Praadesh as the ‘pride’ of the country, he said that it is the duty of the government to develop the state at any cost, adding that India will develop only if Arunachal and the entire northeast develops. "Arunachal is a symbol of faith for the country as it gives us strength. The people used to greet each other with 'Jai Hind' and I salute the people for their patriotism," the prime minister said. A new channel for Arunachal Pradesh, Doordarshan (DD) Arun Prabha was inaugurated by the Prime Minister and he laid the foundation stone for a permanent campus for the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Jote. The PM dedicated the 110 MW Pare Hydroelectric Plant to the nation. Fifty health and wellness centres in the state were also inaugurated via remote at a function at the IG park in Itanagar.<doc-sep>China opposes PM Narendra Modi's Arunachal visit, India hits back NEW DELHI: Even as China reiterated its objections to Narendra Modi 's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for an all-weather tunnel under Se La, a critical mountain pass connecting Tawang to the rest of the state, which will allow faster troop mobility along the border.Officials said the strategically important, Se La (La means pass) tunnel project will take the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) around three years to complete. The cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 687 crore.In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "China's position on the China-India boundary question is consistent and clear-cut. The Chinese government has never recognised the so called 'Arunachal Pradesh' and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader's visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. "China urges the Indian side to proceed from the overall situation of bilateral relations, respect China's interests and concerns, cherish the momentum of improving relations between the two countries, and refrain from any actions that intensify disputes and complicate the border issue," Chunying said using words a little stronger than usual. The proposed all-weather tunnel is expected to help impart a much-needed strategic thrust to Indian military forces against China. "The project covers a total distance of 12.04 km, with two tunnels of 1,790 and 475 metres. Once completed, the tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang and other forward areas. It will reduce the travelling time from Tezpur to Tawang in a major way. Travellers would be able to avoid the dangerous snow covered Se La top at a height of 13,700 feet," said an official.A senior Army officer, who has served a couple of tenures at Se La, in turn, said the road connecting Tenga to Tawang is "a perpetual struggle" for military convoys because it frequently remains blocked due to landslides and other factors. The Army is keeping its fingers crossed about the Se La tunnel project, given the huge delays in border infrastructure development as well as the 73 "strategic" all-weather roads (totalling 4,643-km) that were identified for construction along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) 20 years ago.<doc-sep>New Delhi: After China objected to Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, India dismissed the objections since its leaders visit the northeastern state just “as they visit other parts of India”. China routinely protests visits by Indian leaders to Arunachal Pradesh, which it described as ‘south Tibet’. There had been a similar complaint when Modi was in Arunachal Pradesh last year. Earlier on Saturday, the Indian prime minister was in the state to address a public rally as part of his Northeast tour. “China’s position on the China-India boundary question is consistent and clear-cut. The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying. The language used by the Chinese and Indian sides during these visits to Arunachal Pradesh has remained largely unchanged. Modi’s last visit was in February 2018, when Beijing released a similar protest statement. However, there is one missing line. Last year, China had said that it was lodging “stern representations”, which is missing from the 2019 remarks. In February 2015, Indian ambassador to China was summoned by the Chinese vice foreign minister to lodge “solemn representations” against the visit of Indian leaders for Arunachal Pradesh’s statehood day. There was no such mention of a representation – stern or solemn – being lodged by the Chinese side on Saturday. The rest of the Chinese spokesperson’s latest statement followed previous templates. “China urges the Indian side to bear in mind the common interests of the two countries, respect the interests and concerns of the Chinese side, cherish the momentum of improvement in bilateral relations and refrain from any action that may lead to the escalation of disputes or complicate the boundary question,” said spokesperson Hua. After a few hours, Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar responded that Arunachal Pradesh is “an integral and inalienable part of India”. “Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other parts of India. This consistent position has been conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions,” he said. Relations between India and China have been relatively positive after the ‘informal’ leadership summit in Wuhan in April 2018. The summit was organised as a way to improve the tone of the relationship after soldiers from the two Asian giants faced each other for 72 days in Bhutan.<doc-sep>
Read Also PM Narendra Modi inaugurates and lays foundation of projects worth Rs 4000 crore in Arunachal Pradesh Modi laid the foundation stone for construction of greenfield Airport at Hollongi and inaugurated a retrofitted airport at Tezu in Lohit district through a remote. The PM also dedicated to the nation the 110 MW Pare Hydroelectric Plant and laid the foundation stone for a permanent campus of Film and China opposes PM Narendra Modi's Arunachal visit, India hits back NEW DELHI: India on Saturday said that Arunachal Pradesh is an "integral and inalienable part" of the country after China "firmly opposed" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the sensitive border state.Condemning Prime Minister Modi's visit, China today asserted that it has never recognised the sensitive border state and the Indian leadership should refrain from any action that may "complicate the boundary question".Reacting sharply to China's remarks, the ministry of external affairs said the state of Arunachal Pradesh is an "integral and inalienable part" of India and this position has been conveyed to the Chinese side multiple times. "Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other parts of India. This consistent position has been conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions," the MEA spokesperson said in a statement.Prime Minister Modi today inaugurated and laid foundation stone of projects in Arunachal Pradesh worth over Rs 4,000 crore and said his government was giving a lot of importance to improve connectivity in the border state.Modi said his government was giving importance to improve the highway, railway, airway and power situation in Arunachal Pradesh, which was neglected by the previous governments.Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in response to a question on Modi's visit said, "China's position on the China-India boundary question is consistent and clear-cut. The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader's visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. "“China urges the Indian side to bear in mind the common interests of the two countries, respect the interests and concerns of the Chinese side, cherish the momentum of improvement in bilateral relations, and refrain from any action that may lead to the escalation of disputes or complicate the boundary question," she said in her reaction posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.China claims the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet. India and China have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute.The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China routinely objects to Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its stand.Read this story in Marathi