China north east
Hi everybody,
China has been intruding into our borders!! T and while India had been ignoring the north east till 2015, the 60 year ignorance of the north eastern states has resulted into such a critical state today, that now China has much easier access to the north east than the Indian States themselves!!! Infact,
Map
if you look at the map you will see that they are building not just highways, but even rails and even 5G towers near the state of Arunachal pradesh!!!!!! and we all know what china does to all territories that it keeps an eye on!!
and if you don’t remember here is glimpse of the same!
Cinematic
We saw this with Honk kong, Taiwan and now we are seing the same with Arunachal pradesh!!
So now you already understand how critical this situation is!!!
Which is why, in this episode today,
Let’s try to understand
Why has China set its eye on our 7 sisters?
Why is it very critical and difficult for india to handle this situation?
and most importantly, does the current govt really care about the north east or is it yet another marketing gimmick to win the elections???
This video is brought to you by study iq but more on this at the end of the video!!!
To understand the depth of the Indo-China situation in the north east, we frist have to understand the core reasons as to why the Northeastern states of India have not developed as much as other states.
- The first reason is the geography of the region and the historic developement since the british times.
You see, if you look at a state like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, ever since the british times, they had some of the busiest ports in the country, which are the surat port, chennai port and the mumbai port. So by default, trade and commerce prospered in this region because they were the gateway for the brits to trade with the world. But if you look at the Northeast, they have been geographically isolated from the rest of the country due to their location and the terrain. If you look at the map you will see that,the north eastern states are bordered by Bhutan, China, and Myanmar from all sides and the only thing that connects the rest of India with the seven sister is this tiny strip of land known as the “chicken’s neck,” . This land strip is just 22 km (14 miles) wide at its narrowest point. (MAP)
- On top of that, this region is very hilly and mountainous, with a rugged terrain that makes transportation and communication difficult.
- Secondly, there is a massive flooding problem in the north east!!
And the simple way to understand this would be compare the average rainfall of northeast vs other states in India.
Graph
And if you look at the numbers, you will seee that, while Tamil nadu has an average rainfall of 995mm, UP stands at 1279mm, Gujarat stands at 1243mm and Maharashtra stands at 1433mm, where as if you look at the north eastern states, you will see that, Arunachal Pradesh has an avaerage rainfall of 2782 mm, Nagaland stands at 1715 mm, Assam stands at 2,409 mm, Manipur stands at 1454mm and Meghalaya stands at 3294 mm, Mizoram stands at 2794 mm and similar is the case with Tripura at 2228mm.
https://force.org.in/blue-india-program/per-capita-daily-rainfall-state-wise/
So as you can clearly see, the rainfall in the northeast is almost double as that of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Story
On top of that, there is also the brahmaputra river that has a high flood carrying capacity due to its extra ordinary volumes of water. And then to make it even more tricky, This region also has a lot of hilly and mountainous terrain that again contributes to the flooding. This is because the water from the monsoon rains flows down into the valleys that causes the river to overflow.
In addition to that, the drainage of this region is not too good as a result, this is what happens to north east very very frequently.
Flooding cinematic
And lastly there is also a problem of insurgency in the northeast.
(Use Photos and Icons To explain)
For example : In Nagaland, there is the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), which has been fighting for the independence of Nagaland. And since the 1950s, this insurgency has resulted in thousands of deaths and has disrupted economic and social development in the state. (https://www.indiatodayne.in/nagaland/story/nscn-im-reiterates-call-independence-410968-2021-12-30)
Simiarly, in Assam there is the United Liberation Front of Asom which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the Indian government. and The same organisation even operated in Manipur.
(https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/manipur/terrorist_outfits/unlf.html )
So all of this put together when there is very less connectivity, very bad weather that causes flooding and when there is a security issue due to insurgency, you tell me if you were the CEO of tata or reliance, when you have less riskier and more developed places like Maharashtra and Gujarat, would you risk betting 1000s of crores of investment to set up a plant in north east!!! no right???!! This is the reason why even if the govt gives out incentives, Industrialists prefer other states in India rather than the north east!!!
Now the question is, when the North east has so many challenges why is China so interested in Arunachal pradesh?
Well as it turns out, while India geopgraphically has alot of challenges to connect with Arunachal pradesh, China does not have a problem with connecting with Arunachal pradesh at all!!
Map
Why?? While we have only the chicken neck access to the north east, china shares loooong border with arunachal pradesh. And because of that it is much easier for them to connect mainland china to Arunachal pradesh than it is for us to connect Arunachal pradesh with the rest of India.
Secondly, Arunachal pradesh’s strategic location makes it militarily advantageous.
MAP
If you look at the map, it is located near the tri-junction of India, China, and Bhutan, and it sits on the eastern end of the Himalayan mountain range. So its mountainous terrain and its location in the eastern Himalayas could make it very difficult for an enemy to access or to defend against an attack.
This is the reason why China has invested heavily in infrastructure in the border regions, including those near Arunachal Pradesh.
Map
A classic example of the same is China’s National Highway 219 also called as Xinjiang Tibet Highway!! This highway passes through disputed area of Aksai Chin and all the way to above Nepal. It connects Kashgar to Lhasa as shown on the map and is the highest road in the world, with an altitude of 5,000 meters.
This is connected to other highways such as the Yunnan Tibet Highway which connects Lhasa to Markam. And if you look at the map it comes very very close to the border region of Arunachal Pradesh. These highways give China’s military an upper hand if its trying to mobilise resources and equipment in case of a conflict.
On top of that, Chinese armed forces have also been developing their road, rail and air connectivity as well as 5G mobile network in this region.
Locate in map and then pass to raghu
For example, China has constructed a ‘sealed’ road leading from Tangwu New Village to within 150-metre of the LAC ridge-line. This is right across the strategically-located Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal. So now they can swiftly deploy their troops in this region. Infact, they have already started conducting several drills along the border in the past 1 year. (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/china-has-constructed-a-sealed-road-leading-to-within-150m-of-lac-ridge-line/articleshow/96380507.cms )
Satellite images
If this was not enough, satellite images show that China has constructed a cluster of at least 60 buildings, as well as a new village consisting of 101 homes, approximately 4.5 kilometers within Arunachal Pradesh’s territory.
Map
and Finally, the Siliguri corridor connecting the NER to India is simply 60 km in length and 22 km in width at its narrowest point. So With plain terrain, without natural or man made obstacles, this patch makes defense a real challenge if we have a clash with china. And China would easily be able to cut off India’s singular route to this region!!
So Overall, China has taken a number of steps to connect with Arunachal Pradesh through infrastructural development!!!
So this begs the question what the hell is India doing to fix these problems??
Well, This is where the prime minister of India made the grand annoucment of the 6 pillars of connectivity.
PM modi north east announcement!!
(Do it Your way)
The first pillar is Air connectivity, for this The government has the UDAN scheme where by from the financial years 2016–17 to 2021–22 a total of 28 air connectivity projects have been completed in the region at a cost of Rs 979.07 crore, and 15 more projects worth Rs 2212.30 crores are currently under the process of completion.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1797236
Then for Rail connectivity, the government has sanctioned 19 projects for a total length of 1,909 kilometres, with a budget allocation of Rs 77,930 crores, which are at different stages of implementation .
But up to March 2022, a total of 409-kilometre-length has been commissioned at an expenditure of Rs 30,312 crores. This includes, 14 New Line Projects of 361-kilometre-length at an expenditure of Rs 27,458 crore; and five Multitracking Projects covering a length of 48 kilometre at an expenditure of Rs 2,854 crore.
Then for telecom connectivity, A total of 1,358 towers are being installed to cover 1,246 villages!!!
And cherry on the cake we also have water connectivity projects, where by India is building national waterway from Brahmaputra River from Dhubri at Bangladesh border to Sadiya at a cost of Rs 461 crore in five years (2020–2025). Then River Barak has been declared as National Waterway-16, (Show Headline)
and it connects Silchar, Karimganj and Badarpur in Assam with Haldia and Kolkata ports through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) Route. The facilities would cost us another Rs.145 crore from 2020–2025.
And the fun fact is that, because of the work done by the govt in the past 8 years, Nagaland got its second railway station after a gap of more than 100 years. This is what now connects Nagaland to Arunachal Pradesh via, Assam. and guess what?? In 2022, Manipur got freight train connectivity for the first time in 75 years and Sikkim also got its first airport in 2018 .
and overall, in 2014–15 while the yearly budget allocation for the development of NE states was just Rs 24,819.18 crores, in 2021–22 it rose to 70,874.32 crores!! This is a 285% in the past eight years alone.
This is the what India is doing to counter or prepare for the Chineese aggression in the north east!! and this brings us to the last part of the episode and that are the study materials to help us understand this Indo China conflict better!!
- The first thing I am attaching is a think school which will actually take you deeper into the economic warfare of India with China!! Because while most people think this is just military conflict, there is actually some hardcore economics associated with it that we often ignore!!!
- Secondly I am attaching a list of govt initatives in the north east that you need to keep eye on to keep a check on the govt!!
- and lastly, I am attaching a study iq playlist to take you deeper into the conflicts of the northeast!!
- How Modi government is prioritising development of NE India via six pillars of connectivity
For decades, states in North East region (NER) had suffered, because of what an editor in New Delhi once described as…
On top of that,
How Modi government is prioritising development of NE India via six pillars of connectivity
For decades, states in North East region (NER) had suffered, because of what an editor in New Delhi once described as…
Lessons?
In popular narratives, we have long been ignoring our northeast, and we barely know anything or even have enough data on the economic situation of the states.
its time we as citizens try to uplift our seven sisters and even its neighbouring states because they have so much potential in culture tourism and economic sectors, and unlocking it will give india a whole new dimension.
More from Ganesh Prasad
Following
Educator, Social media Creator and Co-founder of Think School (An education start-up). Other than that, just a good storyteller! ⭐