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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON MARR CH IN
SUBJECT: PM SINGH SIGNALS INDIA'S COMMITMENT TO KEEP ARUNACHAL 
PRADESH 
 
REF: 07 KOLKATA 376 
 
KOLKATA 00000050  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On January 31, barely two weeks after his 
visit to China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Arunachal 
Pradesh, a northeast Indian state bordering China and Bhutan, to 
signal India's commitment to keeping the territory.  He 
announced development projects to the tune of USD 2.5 billion 
and sought to boost the morale of Indian soldiers deployed on 
the border.  The Prime Minister avoided mentioning or discussing 
China, but the unresolved border dispute remains a significant 
irritant in India-China relations.  India has kept the region's 
infrastructure underdeveloped for decades as a deterrent to 
invasion.  Singh's visit shows an apparent shift in strategy to 
foster development in an effort to promote territorial defense 
and greater national integration.  His visit to the area so soon 
after going to China may also be sign that Sino-Indian border 
negotiations are not going well.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On January 31, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in 
the remote Northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which 
shares a 1,030 kilometer, unfenced border with China, for a 
two-day tour.  This is the first Prime Ministerial tour of the 
state in a decade and notably, comes barely two weeks after his 
visit to Beijing.  At the state capital, Itanagar, Singh 
announced plans for multiple development projects including an 
"electricity-for-every-home" scheme,  flood relief, connecting 
Itanagar to the nearest railhead at Harmuti in Assam, a 
1,840-kilometer four-lane trans-Arunachal highway connecting all 
district headquarters in the state, a new airport for Itanagar, 
and the reopening of four non-operational airports at Tezu, 
Pasighat, Daporijo and Along.  Singh also laid the foundation 
stone of the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation's 3,000 
megawatt Dibang Multipurpose Project and the North Eastern 
Electric Power Corporation's 110 megawatt Pare Hydroelectric 
Project.  (Note: Arunachal has five major rivers with the 
potential to generate 50,000 megawatts of power.  End Note.) 
Overall, Singh's announced projects would total about USD 2.5 
billion for the Arunachal Pradesh, which he declared India's 
"Land of the Rising Sun." 
 
¶3.   (U) The Prime Minister also used his visit to boost the 
morale of the Indian forces deployed on the Indo-China border. 
Accompanied by Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and 
newly-appointed Arunachal Pradesh Governor and former Army Chief 
General (Retired) J. J. Singh, the PM stopped in the city of 
Lohitpur and addressed Army soldiers and Indo-Tibetan Border 
Police.  He announced a grant of USD 150,000 to upgrade the 
transit facilities at Dehan, Senge, Likabali and Missamari, 
which are used by military personnel, and a grant of USD 75,000 
for setting up satellite telephone service at Subansiri, Siang, 
Seam, Lohit and Debang valleys.  Singh told the soldiers that it 
was imperative that permanent peace be established in the 
Northeast, and he lauded the security forces for their service 
in the region.  He expressed confidence that the soldiers would 
face new challenges fully prepared. 
 
¶4.  (U) Subsequently on February 7, the Indian Army also 
announced plans for the formation of two new mountain divisions, 
which are intended for rapid offensive operations in the 
mountainous areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Northeast India.  The 
two new mountain divisions will cost approximately USD 170 
million to establish and are expected to have "integral tactical 
air mobility assets" of medium to heavy lift helicopters. 
 
¶5.  (U) Singh was careful, however, to avoid mentioning directly 
Arunachal Pradesh's neighbor to the north -- China.  Known until 
1986 as the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), Arunachal Pradesh 
was the site of a bitter Indo-China War in 1962 when Chinese 
troops advanced deep into the state and inflicted heavy 
casualties on Indian troops.  The state is claimed by China and 
significant portions of its populace feel that the GOI has kept 
the state intentionally under-developed for decades, preferring 
to use it as a buffer against Chinese aggression much like the 
British did during their Raj.  The McMahon Line, a Raj-era 
demarcation now referred to as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), 
marks the China-India boundary along Arunachal Pradesh.  India 
inherited the border dispute with China from the British, who 
had hosted a 1914 conference with the Tibetan and Chinese 
governments that set the border.  China has never recognized the 
McMahon Line and claims 90,000 square kilometers of land in 
Arunachal - almost the entire state.  In 1986, Indian and 
 
KOLKATA 00000050  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Chinese forces again clashed in Arunachal Pradesh's Sumdorong 
Chu Valley. 
 
¶6.  (U) Singh's failure to mention China in any of his 
statements, including his address to soldiers guarding the 
border, prompted the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 
leadership criticized Singh's for a lack of commitment to 
resolving the boundary issue and for his failure to visit 
Tawang, a portion of Arunachal Pradesh specifically claimed by 
China.  One local Congress legislator also commented that 
although it might appear that the Prime Minister allotted USD 
2.5 billion to Arunachal, a large part of this amount previously 
had been earmarked for the state but was not disbursed. 
However, Singh emphasized in his speeches that the Gandhi-Nehru 
family had always given the highest importance to Arunachal 
Pradesh and that he shared their views. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  Singh's trip to Arunachal Pradesh so soon 
after his visit to China may be an indication that India's 
border negotiations with China are not going well and that the 
PM felt the need to shore up India's presence in the state.  The 
visit apparently served several goals, as:  1) a signal that 
India regards the state as strategic Indian territory; 2) a 
reminder to China of India's view on where the border stands; 
and 3) a public promise that the GOI is committed to the people 
of Arunachal Pradesh by developing the poor infrastructure and 
economy.  The lack of progress on border talks has led to an 
uneasy stalemate, as both sides remain hesitant to finally 
settle the dispute and instead, continue cross-border troop 
"incursions" (reftel).  India has left Arunachal Pradesh 
underdeveloped in the misguided hope of having the mountainous 
state serve as a natural, physical buffer against the Chinese. 
However, ethnically and geographically removed from mainland 
India, Arunachalis may be feeling some growing bonds with China 
as their awareness of greater development (and economic 
opportunity) across the border increases.  Therefore, Singh's 
trip reflects a belated recognition by India that it must pay 
greater attention to Arunachal Pradesh or potentially face 
gradually losing the state to China simply through its growing 
economic attraction. 
JARDINE