India-China border India-China border

Indian Railways will soon set up a station in Arunachal Pradesh near the India-China border, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Saturday.

"A draft of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is ready and will be signed soon," Parrikar said, adding he has spoken in detail about the project to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

"(Railway Minister) Suresh Prabhu and I have already discussed the issue. I have received a call from Prabhu's office that the draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) was ready. In the next two weeks, the MoU between the Defence Ministry and Railway Ministry will be signed," Parrikar told reporters in Panaji.

The defence minister said that the "gravity" of the border issue between China and India has come down as far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned.

In January, Prabhu had said India and China trade relations would soon see broader exchanges with the expansion of Indian Railways to China border.

The Railway Minister had said the government has decided to expedite the process of building four top-priority strategic railway lines along the China border.

The project would be undertaken jointly by Defence and Railway ministries.