Exclusive: Japan says China border road projects not discussed with India
Japan said on Thursday it had never discussed with India any road projects along the border with China, stating that projects in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were "out of the scope" of surveys announced by the two sides when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan.
Japan said on Thursday it had never discussed with India any road projects along the border with China, stating that projects in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were "out of the scope" of surveys announced by the two sides when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan.
On Tuesday, the Chinese government said, in response to Indian media reports detailing the possible involvement of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in "strategic" road projects in the Northeast along the China border, that it had received a "clarification" from Tokyo that projects would not take place in "disputed" areas. Also read: Japan assures China it will stay out of Arunachal projects
Officials indicated this referred to Arunachal Pradesh, which China has territorial claims on.
A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official in Tokyo confirmed to India Today that the geographical scope of the survey that the JICA announced it would undertake, during Prime Minister Modi's visit, did not include states bordering China such as Arunachal and Uttarakhand.
The reports in India, the official said, were incorrect.
It was also not the case that Japan had backtracked on the projects under Chinese pressure as suggested in some reports, since they were never on the agenda to begin with.
"The geographical scope of this survey includes only the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura as indicated in the outline of the survey," the official said. "States bordering with China such as Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which are mentioned in the article[s], are out of the scope of the survey."
The official also clarified that agreements on the road projects were not certain, and would only depend on the results of the survey. "What is decided at present," the official said, "is only the fact that JICA will conduct the survey. Whether Japan actually extends its support for a potential road improvement project and the scope of such a project are subject to the result of the survey."
The Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has sought Japanese assistance in taking forward long-overdue connectivity projects, especially in the Northeast. The Narendra Modi government has pledged to boost infrastructure projects, including along the China border, where delays have led to a widening asymmetry in infrastructure across the Himalayas.
China has built a network of highways and rail lines in Xinjiang and Tibet. Earlier this month, Beijing announced that a newly built line from Lhasa to Shigatse (Xigaze in Chinese), close to Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim, will be extended to Nyingchi, bordering Arunachal. Also read: China moves forward with Tibet rail extension