Rajnath to celebrate Dussehra at India-China border with ITBP jawans

He will interact with ITBP personnel, who guard the border outpost located at an altitude of 14,311 feet

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate 'Dussehra' with the jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Saturday.

Singh began a four-day trip to forward areas along the Sino-India border on Thursday.

A home ministry official said Singh will address a Sainik Sammelan at an ITBP border outpost at Joshimath (altitude 6,150 feet) and have lunch with the jawans before celebrating the 'Dussehra' with them.

He will also visit Barahoti, which has witnessed transgression by China's People's Liberation Army in the recent past.

The home minister will interact with ITBP personnel, who guard the border outpost located at an altitude of 14,311 feet.

This is the first visit by a senior minister in the Narendra Modi government to China border after the resolution of the standoff at Dokalam.

Singh will also visit ITBP border outposts at Rimkhim (altitude 12,500 feet), Mana (10,500 feet) and Auli (10,200 feet) during the four-day trip, the official said.

The home minister is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects.

The 3,488 km-long India-China border stretches through Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km).

The Chinese and Indian troops were locked in a face-off situation for more than two months at Dokalam in Sikkim sector after India stopped the construction of a road by China's army.

The Sino-India border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress.

The area is characterised by high-altitude terrain and thick habitation which have resulted in inadequate development of infrastructure in these regions.