Sitharaman discusses land issues with Arunachal CM

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday co-chaired a high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu to discuss land acquisition for defence purposes in the state bordering China, Myanmar and Bhutan.

The meeting was also attended by Minister for Land Management Nabam Rebia, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Directorate General, Defence Estates Deepa Bajwa besides senior Defence officials and state government officials.

"A seven-point agenda was discussed in detail with regard to land acquisition for defence purposes in Arunachal Pradesh. The complications peculiar to Arunachal Pradesh due to collective community land holdings, change of priorities at late stage of procurement, excess payments, higher land costs, emerging necessities of the army were issues discussed during the meeting," an official statement said.

According to the statement, most of the agenda was resolved with major progress being achieved towards early settlement of all cases.

Khandu assured support from the state government besides personal indulgence with the local residents to break existing log-jams.

The meeting was closed with all stakeholders sanguine of fruitful outcomes in a short time even if some more meetings between them were necessitated in the immediate time frame.

--IANS

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