India plans to construct a 1,800 kilometer-long road along the disputed border in Arunachal Pradesh, a move that some say could safeguard the country against potential incursions from China.

The 1,800 kilometer road will span the mountains of Mago-Thingbu in Tawang up to Vijaynagar where the China-India border meets with Myanmar's.

Like Us on Facebook

The US$6.5 billion infrastructure project will provide for an all-weather road that would give exchange access to indigenous communities living across the four districts of northeastern Arunachal Pradesh, said India's Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also a resident in the area.

India sees this as a way to promote economic development in the region.

This project is not intended to boost the country's defenses, but rather to connect the region's remote areas for economic development which has been denied to these communities for so long, Rijiju said.

Despite this, security analysts say the road could help strengthen India's defenses.

This could signal a shift in Indian military perspective, BBC posited.

For so long, the Indian government has refrained from constructing roads in the disputed territory on the premise that China's troops could exploit the roads to gain access to New Delhi in the event of a conflict.

Now it seems India is taking a more assertive stance in response to China's spate of construction projects in Tibet, where the latter could easily transport soldiers and equipment within the Himalayan region.

Unless India catches up with China's infrastructure initiatives, the latter will only "arm-twist" us and attempt to impose a settlement on their terms, said Indian former army chief of staff Lt. Gen. JR Mukherjee.

However, this could hurt Sino-India relations which has been strained because of the border issue and triggered a war in 1962.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei on Wednesday called for an end to all actions that could undermine efforts to reach an accord on the border dispute.

TagsChina-India border dispute, Sino-India relations, Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet, Political geography