by Infrastructure project raises regional tensions and property values
India has been busy constructing a new airbase near its disputed border with China, in what military analysts are calling “aggressive infrastructure development” and real estate agents would call “location, location, location.” The airbase represents India’s latest move in the high-altitude chess game it’s playing with Beijing, where pawns are replaced by fighter jets and checkmate involves significantly more paperwork at the UN.
The construction, happening at elevations where most people struggle to breathe normally let alone build military infrastructure, demonstrates India’s commitment to defending its borders and its engineers’ commitment to overtime pay. Building an airbase in the Himalayas is like constructing a beach resort in Antarcticatechnically possible, but requiring levels of determination that border on obsession.
Chinese officials have responded with the usual mix of stern warnings and vague threats that characterize modern great power competition. “This is a provocative act,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, without specifying what China plans to do about it besides issuing more statements. It’s diplomatic theater at its finesteveryone knows their lines, everyone performs their roles, and everyone goes home wondering if anything actually changed.
The airbase’s proximity to the disputed border region is strategic in the way that opening a restaurant directly across from your competitor is strategicit’s about making a statement as much as it is about function. “We can be here too,” the airbase essentially declares, “and we brought our own infrastructure.”
Indian military officials tout the base’s capabilities for rapid deployment and enhanced surveillance, using terminology that makes it sound like a particularly aggressive Amazon distribution center. The facility will house fighter jets, support aircraft, and presumably several hundred personnel who drew the short straw in the assignment lottery and now get to experience winter at 15,000 feet.
The construction involved moving massive amounts of equipment to one of the most inhospitable regions on Earth, a logistical challenge that makes delivering pizza in a snowstorm look trivial. Engineers had to account for extreme temperatures, high altitude, and the constant possibility that China might object strongly enough to make things awkward at the next BRICS summit.
Defense analysts describe the airbase as part of India’s broader strategy to match China’s infrastructure development along the disputed border. It’s an arms race, except instead of just building weapons, both sides are building roads, bases, and facilities that would be impressive tourist attractions if they weren’t meant for potential military conflict. “Come for the strategic positioning, stay because you literally can’t breathe properly at this altitude.”
The base will supposedly enable India to respond more quickly to border incidents, which have ranged from stone-throwing matches to actual military standoffs that somehow manage to be both deadly serious and absurdly quaint. Imagine defending your border with regulations that prohibit firearms, leading to soldiers engaging in what amounts to highly trained pushing and shovingwith occasional rocks.
Chinese state media called the construction “a serious mistake,” using the kind of diplomatic language that sounds threatening but is actually just strongly worded disappointment. It’s the international relations equivalent of a parent saying “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed,” except both countries are nuclear powers so the stakes are slightly higher than a family dinner argument.
Local communities near the base are presumably thrilled about the economic opportunities and less thrilled about being situated near a potential flashpoint for conflict between two of the world’s largest militaries. It’s the ultimate NIMBY dilemmaappreciating the infrastructure investment while hoping it never actually gets used for its intended purpose.
SOURCE: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/indias-airbase-china-border-infrastructure-093000213.html
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/indias-airbase-china-border-infrastructure-093000213.html)
