Parliamentary panel to visit border areas in Sikkim, Arunachal

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs will visit areas in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh bordering China next month to look at the situation amid concerns that China had ramped up its military infrastructure in the Doklam region.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is a member of the panel, would be among those visiting the two states, sources said. The panel is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The visit, expected to take place in the last week of May, will come weeks after informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the two leaders decided to provide "strategic guidance" to their respective armies to strengthen communications and prevent another Doklam-like military stand-off along their long-winding disputed border.

Sources said the team would visit areas near the Indo-China border in the two states.

The panel has earlier discussed the 73-day military standoff with China at Doklam that ended in August last year after the two countries agreed to an "expeditious disengagement". The stand off occurred after Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Congress has been attacking the government and saying that it is not capable of sending a strong message to China.

The party has said that a "full-fledged Chinese Military Complex" has come up in Doklam right up to 10m from Indian Army post and has also referred to China building a new road through south of Doklam.

--IANS

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