"Border villages are the country's first villages, not remote areas.
The govt is fully committed to their holistic development," he said, speaking at an inter-ministerial border area development conclave.
It was attended by culture and tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu and Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi, among others.
"Our objective is to transform the villages along the northern borders (with China), especially in Uttarakhand, Himachal and Arunachal, which are suffering from limited connectivity and infrastructure, into ' model villages '.
We aim to connect them to the mainstream of development," Singh said.

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