Rajnath likely to visit Sino-Indian border in Uttarakhand

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to visit the Sino-Indian border in Uttarakhand next week, the first by a senior minister in the Modi government after the resolution of the stand-off in Dokalam, officials said.
During the visit, the home minister will interact with jawans of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the 3,488 km-long India-China border, and assess various development activities in the frontier.
This will be for the first time a senior minister of the Narendra Modi government is visiting the borders with China after the resolution of the Dokalam standoff late last month.
The Chinese and Indian troops were in a face-off situation for more than two months in Dokalam in Sikkim sector after the Indians stopped the construction of a road by China's army.

The home minister is expected to review the situation on the border, address a 'Sainik Sammelan' and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects, a home ministry official said.
Singh may also visit an ITBP post located at Barahoti in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, another official said.

There were reports that Chinese soldiers had entered 800 meters into the Indian territory in Barahoti on July 25 and stayed for some time before returning to the Chinese territory.
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 Sino-Indian 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.
To redress the situation arising out of lack of infrastructure along border with China, the government has decided to undertake construction of 73 roads of operational significance.
Of these, 27 roads involving 804.93 km are being constructed by home ministry in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,937 crore.