Rajnath on two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh

 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a strategically-located river bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, apart from attending other events, during a two-day visit to the north-eastern state beginning November 13, sources said here on Wednesday.

Singh will also interact with soldiers deployed in Arunachal Pradesh during the two-day trip besides reviewing security preparedness of the defence forces along India's border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with China.

"On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit India's border post in Bum La near the LAC with China. The bridge that he will inaugurate after visiting Bum La is located across a river in Lower Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh," a defence ministry official told IANS.

Bum La, located at a height of more than 4,500 meters above sea level, is strategically important for India because it was through this pass that China's People's Liberation Army had laid an invasion in the year 1962.

According to officials, Singh is scheduled to visit the Tawang War Memorial and Tawang Monastery on the first day of his visit to the state on Thursday.

Singh will be the chief guest at the inaugural function of Maitree Diwas celebrations, a multi-cultural social event meant to foster friendship between civil population and personnel of the armed forces, on Thursday.

The Maitree Diwas celebrations this year are being held in the Gyalwa Tsangyang Gyatso High Altitude Stadium in Tawang.IANS