Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Minister of Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation, and Land Management Balo Raja met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the national capital on Friday to bring to her notice the state’s persistent financial woes. The minister particularly raised the issue of the state’s denial of international funding because of Chinese interference, which has repeatedly blocked any loans or assistance to Arunachal Pradesh from institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.
Led by Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) Mayor Tame Phassang, Raja briefed Sitharaman that only Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were not enjoying loans from foreign institutions for critical infrastructure development compared to all the other states and union territories. “Arunachal Pradesh is being kept out of receiving these financial help due to the objections of the Chinese, thereby making the state completely dependent upon central government,” Raja made clear.
China’s assertion that Arunachal Pradesh belongs to it has resulted in continual opposition from Beijing towards any sort of international funding to the state. This has been a great hindrance for the development of Arunachal Pradesh in terms of access to loans to fund crucial infrastructure projects.
In the meeting, Raja thanked the central government for its consistent support. But he underlined that in view of the financial difficulties faced by the state, timely and successful completion of different development projects, especially those being run through urban local bodies, needed extra funds. He also pointed to outstanding grants for urban local bodies and asked Sitharaman to intervene for their early approval.
Sitharaman had promised Raja that the central government would still extend its patronage, specifically towards the urban development of the towns and cities of Arunachal Pradesh. She insisted that the government remained committed to the overall advancement of the state and promised to ensure the availability of the needed financial support.
Raja’s talks with the Finance Minister indicate the urgent necessity for Arunachal Pradesh to move past financial issues created by China’s interference in order to allow the state to further develop and grow its infrastructure effectively.
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