Border area development is best way to deal with geo-strategic challenges: Rajnath

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said the development of border areas was a strategic imperative. India's geo-strategic position is such that it is exposed to different kinds of challenges and the best way to deal with them is to ensure border area development, as border villages are the country's first villages and not remote areas, he said.

He was addressing the Border Area Development Conclave in New Delhi, which was jointly organised by the Indian Army and Centre for Land Warfare and Studies.

"Our objective is to transform the villages along the Northern borders, especially in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, which are suffering from limited connectivity and infrastructure, into model villages. We aim to connect them to the mainstream of development," he said.

Singh said, "The government, along with the Indian Army, is ensuring the participation of people residing in border areas in their development. We are encouraging the youth to enroll in NCC. Many government schemes are being run with the sole aim of development."

He said infrastructure development has not only ensured prompt military deployments in sensitive regions, but have also connected the people residing in border areas with the rest of the country. He underlined the fact that while building roads, bridges and tunnels in border areas is imperative for national security, it is also important in making the lives of the people in these regions better, in collaboration with the state governments.

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi described border area development as a core component of national security. "Infrastructure development; smart borders comprising communication networks and power supply; economic development with employment generation; border area tourism and empowerment of next generation by providing skill enhancement and creating education opportunities" are the key pillars of the vision of border area development, he said.

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