New Delhi: Amidst the protracted over two-year-long border standoff with India, China is building a new highway near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that will run through the disputed territory of Aksai Chin and the existing flashpoints in Eastern Ladakh.
The move by China has caught the attention of the Indian defence and security establishment who are keenly following the development.
The planned highway will connect Xinjiang province with Tibet. While the road link will enhance China’s strategic connectivity in the region, it will cause concerns to India, the South China Morning Post had reported.
Being referred to as the G695 national expressway, the highway is part of China’s newly unveiled national programme. Essentially, the programme aims to build 345 new infrastructure projects, totalling 4,61,000km of highway and motorway, by 2035.
The highway will give China another access point to quickly mobilise and move troops to forward locations at the LAC when required. It will also ensure smoother logistics management for the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) posted along the LAC.
Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment said that they have seen the reports and are monitoring the developments. They said the highway is part of the larger infrastructure build up that China is doing along and near the LAC.
However, they pointed out that India has also ramped up its border infrastructure build up which includes new roads and tunnels besides others which eases life of border villages and swift movement of military personnel.
G695 will be the second highway that China has built in the Aksai-Chin region, after G219 was completed by 1955. The decision to build G695 culminates long standing discussion and dialogue in China to enhance its connectivity across the strategically important locations of the LAC.
According to the report, the proposed highway is supposed to “run through southern Tibet’s Cona county – which lies immediately north of the disputed India-Tibet border demarcated by the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”. It will also pass through Kamba county, where China holds an important military camp, as well as Gyirong county near the Nepal border.
While concrete details remain unclear, the highway may also reach areas that have been the central flash points of the more than 24-month India-China border standoff — Hot Springs, Depsang Plains, and the Galwan Valley. It was at the Galwan Valley where soldiers from both India and China clashed in 2020, leading to deaths on both sides.
Last Sunday, India and China held the 16th round of Corps Commander talks to find a solution to the stand-off at the LAC but it concluded with no immediate resolution. A joint statement stated that both sides had a “frank and in-depth exchange of views” and “agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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