China plans railway link to India border by 2020
26 July NDTV
China plans to extend a railway line linking Tibet with the rest of
the country to the borders of India, Nepal and Bhutan by 2020 once an
extension to a key site in Tibetan Buddhism opens, a state-run newspaper
reported.
The Chinese announcement coincides with a drive by India, under Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, to consolidate its influence with its smaller
neighbours.
Foreign Minister, Sushma Swaraj, heads to Nepal on Friday with a
proposed pact to help develop the Himalayan country's hydro-electric
power potential high on the agenda.
China opened the railway to Tibet's capital Lhasa in 2006, which
passes spectacular icy peaks on the Tibetan highlands, touching
altitudes as high as 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) above sea level, as part
of government efforts to boost development.
Critics of the railway, including exiled Tibetans and rights groups,
say it has spurred an influx of long-term migrants who threaten
Tibetans’ cultural integrity, which rests on Buddhist beliefs and a
traditional herding lifestyle. The Global Times, published by the ruling
Communist Party's official People's Daily, said that an extention to
Shigatse, the traditional seat of Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest
figure, the Panchen Lama, would formally open next month.
That link is scheduled for its own extension during the 2016-2020
period to two separate points, one on the border of Nepal and the other
on the border with India and Bhutan, the newspaper cited Yang Yulin,
deputy head of Tibet's railways, as saying, without providing details.
China has long mooted this plan, but the difficulty and expense of
building in such a rugged and remote region has slowed efforts.
Tibet is a highly sensitive region, not just because of continued
Tibetan opposition to Chinese control, but because of its strategic
position next to India, Nepal and Myanmar.India and China fought a brief
border war in 1962 over the region at the eastern end of the Himalayas.
The nuclear-armed neighbours signed a pact in October to ensure that
differences on their shared border do not spark a confrontation.China's
Communist army occupied Tibet in 1950. Nine years later, Tibet's
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India after a failed uprising. |