TENSION ALONG LAC HAS REDUCED, SAYS RAJNATH

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday visited the forward posts at Bum La along the Indo-China border.

“I got an opportunity to meet and interact with the soldiers posted here who told me that there is no prevailing tension here along Line of Actual Control,” Rajnath Singh told ANI.

The Defence Minister also commended the Indian Army for serving the nation at the border post with maturity.

"During my Bumla visit I have come to know that despite perceptional differences on the boundary issue both the Indian Army and the PLA (People's Liberation Army) have been sensible enough to reduce tensions on the LAC. I congratulate the Indian Army for showing great maturity in all situations," Singh tweeted on Friday.

Singh paid tributes to Param Vir Chakra Subedar Joginder Singh, martyred in the 1962 Sino-Indian War, at a memorial set up in his honour in Bum La. Later on Friday, Singh will inaugurate a bridge across the Sisseri River that has been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation.

Speaking on the inauguration of a strategically-located bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, Singh said the Centre has adopted the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in view of security of the people residing in the border areas.

"Infrastructural upgradation is necessary for the security of the North-East and the entire country," he said, adding that the Central government has initiated numerous infrastructure projects in the state.