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ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki on Wednesday thanked Union railways minister Pawan Kumar Bansal for including Arunachal Pradesh in the rail network of the country. The Union minister, in his budget speech on Tuesday had announced that an Assam-Arunachal railway link would be commission in the coming fiscal.The state's proximity to China has prompted the Centre to include this remote state in the country's railway network. Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in his budget speech on Tuesday had said nation security was a top priority for the railways. He had said the Harmuti (Assam)-Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh) would be commissioned within the financial year 2013-14. He also said the Parasuram Kund-Rupai railway link would be treated as a project of national importance. Thanking Bansal, Tuki said commissioning of the Harmuti-Naharlagun line would be a historical achievement for the state as it would bring Arunachal Pradesh in the railway map of the country for the first time."This would be major step of development for our state which began its humble journey 26 years ago," Tuki said in a statement released on Wednesday. The chief minister also expressed delight that the Union minister has assured to take up the Parasuram Kund-Rupai railway link as a national project. He said the announcement finding a place in the country's railway budget itself was a major boost for railways in the state.

"With this, we are optimistic that soon work on another link in the state will begin. And, as it will be a project of national importance, we believe it would be finished at the earliest connecting our eastern regions with the world's largest rail network," Tuki added.

The chief minister, on behalf of people of the state, conveyed gratitude to the Union minister and assured the railway minister of providing all cooperation for completion of the projects within the given time frame, the statement added.