‘Govt taking steps to revamp border infrastructure’

NEW DELHI: At a time when India is lagging behind China in border infrastructure, defence minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the government was working to create “matching infrastructure” to realise the country’s military potential.

Addressing the first meeting of the consultative committee on defence, Jaitley said India’s immediate neighbours had already bolstered infrastructure in proximity to the borders. He said India was ramping up border infrastructure “based on the strategic reality of our neighbourhood.”

The minister said the government had taken several steps to overcome roadblocks such as procedural delays, environmental clearance and shortage of hightechnology equipment to accelerate the process of building roads in critical areas.

The army has prioritised 22 roads for development. Work on these roads is being closely monitored by the defence ministry so that there are no delays.