China’s gold mine at Arunachal border may become another flash point with India
The Post report comes less than a month after the first ever informal summit between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping that was aimed at cooling tensions to avert incidents like the Dokalam military standoff last year.
BEIJING: China has begun large-scale mining operations on its side of the border with Arunachal Pradesh where a huge trove of gold, silver and other precious minerals valued at about USD 60 billion has been found, a media report said on Sunday. The mine project is being undertaken in Lhunze county under Chinese control adjacent to the Indian border, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet.
Projecting the mining operations as part of China’s move to take over Arunachal Pradesh, the report said “people familiar with the project say the mines are part of an ambitious plan by Beijing to reclaim South Tibet”. “China’s moves to lay claim to the region’s natural resources while rapidly building up infrastructure could turn it into ‘another South China Sea’ they said,” it said.
Credit: indianexpress.com