India Has Every Capability To Overcome Border Challenges: Rajnath Singh

India has every capability to thwart border challenges and protect the country's territory, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

Singh also said that India never encourages war and strives to maintain friendly relations with its neighbours.

However, he said during the inauguration of a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) bridge here that the Indian Army is capable of facing any challenge along the border and is prepared to deal with any situation.

India is a country that never encourages war and strives to maintain friendly relations with its neighbours. We inherited this philosophy from Lord Rama and Lord Buddha's teachings. According to Singh, if provoked, the country can deal with any situation.

On 9 December, Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, resulting in "minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides, according to the Army.

According to the defence minister, the central government has prioritised developing infrastructure to strengthen the border.

The new bridge will not only make it easier for locals to move around, but it will also aid in the faster deployment of troops, heavy equipment, and mechanised vehicles to forward areas, he said.

The 100-metre Class-70' steel arch superstructure on the Aalo-Yingkiong road between West Siang and Upper Siang districts is one of 28 border infrastructure projects completed by the BRO at the cost of Rs 724.3 crore.

Singh also virtually inaugurated the BRO's other 27 projects.

Eight of these have been built in Ladakh, four in Jammu and Kashmir, five in Arunachal Pradesh, three in Sikkim, three in Punjab, three in Uttarakhand, and two in Rajasthan.

Singh described the projects as evidence of the government's and the BRO's collaborative efforts to develop border areas in order to improve the armed forces' operational readiness and ensure the socio-economic development of remote regions.