Will there be a “Kargil-like situation” in Arunachal?

New Delhi, Jun 14: Kalikho Pul, the Minister for Finance and Planning of Arunachal Pradesh Government, has managed to create quite a buzz in the national capital when he cautioned the central government against a “Kargil-like situation" in the north-eastern state.

He along with Jarbom Gamlin, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh were in Delhi on Jun 13 to finalise the state plan for 2011-12.

The Indian Express, reports Pul as saying, “China claims its rights over Arunachal Pradesh that shares a 1,806-km border in the north." The daily states that he was speaking to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, during a discussion on Arunachal Pradesh.

The minister, has also been reported by the daily as saying that the Chinese have written on rocks in Arunachal Pradesh in a bid to mark regions in the state as their own.

China, has been since long, laying claim to Arunachal Pradesh as one of its territory. It says, that the state has too much of similarity with the Chinese culture and people that it ought to be their state.

The Indian Express, has cited a senior official in the government as admitting that China was indeed carrying out infrastructure development projects on its side of the border with Arunachal Pradesh.

The official was quoted as saying, “But then, the geography on the other side comprises the Tibetan plateau, making it easier for construction."

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has in a statement issued on Jun 13, expressed concerns about the lack of proper infrastructure in the North-east and has also evinced a keenness to expedite, in particular, the road network in Arunachal.

The plan for Arunachal Pradesh for the current fiscal was fixed at Rs 3,200 crore.

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