India Opens Its Longest Bridge in Northeast

 

India has opened its longest bridge in the country’s northeast to strengthen its defenses close to a disputed border with China.

The bridge is one of several projects whose construction has been sped up to make it easier for troops and artillery¹ to travel to Arunachal Pradesh state, in the Himalayas.

China claims the state as its territory. It calls the area South Tibet.

The 9.15-kilometer-long Dhola Sadiya Bridge crosses over the Brahmaputra River. It has been designed to carry the weight of 60-ton battle tanks. The bridge connects Arunachal Pradesh with the northeastern state of Assam. Construction began in 2011.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the bridge on the day marking his third year in office. He did not talk about possible military uses for the bridge. He said instead that the area will benefit from the bridge. He said it would speed up economic development in both Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and would help tens of thousands of farmers sell their crops in new markets.

Since he took office in 2014, Modi has worked to increase the country’s economic growth through infrastructure² projects. They include several projects in border regions of northeastern states that the government says are needed to strengthen India’s defenses.

For many years, India did not improve infrastructure in the region because it believed Chinese troops would use it in a war to gain access to areas of India.

Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly³ in 1962. Negotiations⁴ have taken place since then, but parts of their border are still disputed.

Dipankar Banerjee is a security expert and former Indian major general. He says that, in the past, experts believed that if India built roads close to the border then the roads “could perhaps be used for (an) offensive purpose by either side. So there was some constraint⁵ on building roads.”

India hopes to complete a two-lane road by next year to a border area in Arunachal Pradesh, where all military supplies must now be transported by helicopter.

Building the road near steep Himalayan mountains has been a difficult engineering problem. Some road-building equipment had to be transported to the area by helicopters.

India is also improving landing runways for large military aircraft.

Indian experts say the projects will help India in its efforts to match the large transportation network China has built on its side of the border. Banerjee says “China has got much better infrastructure -- that is one of the major issues.”

Recently, Home Minister Rajnath Singh called on troops guarding the border to guard against Chinese attacks.

“We want peace, but peace with honor. We need to be capable of deterring⁷ anyone who may think we are weak,” Singh told members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force that guards parts of the border with China.

Ties between the two countries have worsened in the past year. Last month, China strongly criticized a visit by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh. It warned that the visit would harm relations with India.

Words in This Story

infrastructure – n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region or organization to function properly

region – n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

constraint – n. something that limits or restricts someone or something

deter⁶ – v. to prevent (something) from happening

1 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

6 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

7 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网