XIAOKANG BORDER DEFENCE VILLAGES – DEFENCE & SECURITY
News:
China moves its nationals
into its vacant ‘defence villages’ along LAC
What's
in the news?
●
The Chinese people have started occupying
several of the country’s model ‘Xiaokang’ border defence villages, along its
border with India’s northeastern region.
Key
takeaways:
●
For more than five years, China has been
building 628 such Xiaokang or “well-off
villages” along India’s borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region.
●
These have been built all along the LAC,
including the Ladakh and Arunachal
Pradesh borders.
India
and Border Villages:
●
The Indian government announced the Vibrant Villages Programme in 2022 to
develop its border villages into modern
villages with all amenities and as tourist attractions.
●
The programme builds on the existing Border Area Development Programme (BADP)
under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
●
India intends to transform 663 border villages into modern villages
as part of the program’s first phase.
●
At least 17 such border villages along
China’s borders in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal
Pradesh have been selected for development as a pilot project.
○
Zemithang, Taksing, Chayang Tajo, Tuting,
and Kibithu are villages in Arunachal Pradesh’s east and Tawang region.