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Agence France-Presse

India on Tuesday opened its longest rail and road bridge in a poor northeastern state as part of efforts to boost defences on its sensitive border with China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi drove in a cavalcade along the 4.9km (three mile) long Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra river to inaugurate the project in Assam state which has taken nearly two decades and US$800 million to complete.

The bridge, near the city of Dibrugarh, will enable the military to speed up the dispatch of forces to neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China.
Doklam dispute keeps Sino-Indian relations ‘challenging’, ambassador tells Hong Kong
With the opening of the bridge, the rail journey from Dibrugarh to the Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar has been cut by 750km.
India lost territory in Arunachal Pradesh in a 1962 war with China.
The bridge has been designed to bear the weight of India’s heaviest 60 tonne battle tanks and so fighter jets can land on it.


India opened its longest bridge, the 9.1km (5.7 mile) Dhola-Sadiya bridge, in 2017 to connect Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, also to boost tactical defences.
Doklam stand-off with China: will India learn the right lessons or pay as Nehru did?
Construction of the Bogibeel bridge was agreed by the government as part of a 1985 agreement to end years of deadly agitation by Assamese nationalist groups.


India proposes reopening government bidding to Chinese firms as ties thaw

Chinese main battle tank, upgraded for high altitudes, could be sent to border with India

China denies harassing Indian woman born in disputed border region over ‘invalid’ passport

Can China and India turn tactical calm into strategic moderation?

China-India border dispute

India opens battle-ready bridge usable by tanks and warplanes on border with China, following ceremony by PM Narendra Modi

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the dedication of the India’s Bogibeel bridge at Dibrugarh, Assam on December 25, 2018. Photo: EPA

(FILES) This file photograph taken on October 21, 2012 shows an Indian soldier keeping watch at Bumla Pass on the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi and Beijing are locked in a tense impasse over a strategic Himalayan plateau where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been squaring off against each other for more than three months. India approved a $650 million purchase of six attack helicopters from US aviation giant Boeing, officials said August 17, 2017, as it boosts its military might amid the border tensions with China and Pakistan. / AFP PHOTO / BIJU BORO

Why India’s expanding military ties with the United States and Russia could put the squeeze on China

Soldiers from China and India take part in Hand-in-Hand 2018, a joint military exercise being staged in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Photo: Reuters

An Indian Navy sailor stands guard on the deck of the INS Shivalik during the inauguration of joint naval exercises with the United States and Japan in Chennai on July 10, 2017. India began holding naval exercises with the United States and Japan off its south coast on July 10, seeking to forge closer military ties to counter growing Chinese influence in the region. / AFP PHOTO / ARUN SANKAR

In this image taken from a recent video footage run by China's CCTV on Friday, Aug 4, 2017 via AP Video, artillery guns fire during a live-fire drill by the Chinese army in China's Tibet Autonomous Region that border India. Beijing is intensifying its warnings to Indian troops to get out of a contested region high in the Himalayas where China, India and Bhutan meet, saying China has been restrained but "restraint has its limits." Chinese characters in yellow reads "Artillery soldiers high altitude live fire drills". (CCTV via AP Video)

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Asia

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The bridge has been designed so fighter jets can land on it and heavy battle tanks cross on their way to Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China


The bridge has been designed so fighter jets can land on it and heavy battle tanks cross on their way to Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China.


China-India relations

India

Narendra Modi

India opens battle-ready bridge usable by tanks and warplanes on border with China, following ceremony by PM Narendra Modi

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The bridge has been designed so fighter jets can land on it and heavy battle tanks cross on their way to Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China

The bridge has been designed so fighter jets can land on it and heavy battle tanks cross on their way to Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China