Earlier this week there was a violent altercation at the Indo-China border in eastern Ladakh that, as per officials has left 20 Indian Army officials dead. As per earlier reports by Indian intercepts, there have been 43 casualties on the Chinese side, including those who have died or been seriously injured.
Now, a few days later, on Thursday, the Indian Railways has decided to terminate a project with the Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group. The news update was posted to Twitter by CNN News18 reporter Marya Shakil.
The official reasons that have been cited for the same pertain to "poor progress" despite a passage of four years.
As per the details shared, the System Contract was awarded some time ago for signalling and telecommunication work that was to be done to the Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) stretch that is 417 kilometres in length.
This was a Rs. 471 crore contract that had been awarded in June 2016. It had been funded through a loan from the World Bank. Despite the passage of four years however, the progress has only been 20%. The contract was terminated by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India.
The termination notice sites several issues that contribute to the poor progress. The "reluctance of the company to furnish technical documents such as logic design of electronic interlocking" as per the contract agreement and the "non-availability" of their engineers and/ or authorized personnels at the site was a "serious constraint", the notice adds.
With no tie-up with local agencies, physical work too could not progress. Additionally, the notice says that repeated meetings with the organisation and its representatives at "every possible level" had not made any difference to the progress of work.
"Material procurement, which is an independent activity, has not been done earnestly," the notice adds.
Earlier in the day reports suggested that the government has decided to ask state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to not use Chinese telecom gear in its 4G upgradation, which is being supported as part of the company revival package.
In recent days there has been a rallying cry across India for a ban on Chinese products. Protests have erupted in different parts of the country, with many even taking it upon themselves to destroy products that may have a Chinese origin.
People have also been spotted buring effigies of Xi Jinping.
(With inputs from agencies)
