China to build Xinjiang-Tibet rail link along LAC with India
The $13.2 billion project, set to begin this year, is seen as strategically significant in the disputed frontier region
China set to build railway from Xinjiang to Tibet, running near India-China border (Photo - @BRIJESHMORY / X)
Guwahati, Aug 12: China is set to build the most ambitious rail link connecting Xinjiang province with Tibet, part of which will "run near" the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, according to a media report.
Work is expected to get under way this year with the launch of a state-owned company to oversee the construction and operations of a line that will link Hotan in Xinjiang and Lhasa in Tibet, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company has been formally registered with 95 billion yuan (USD 13.2 billion) in capital and wholly owned by the China State Railway Group to build the project, according to the state-run Shanghai Securities News.
The project aims to establish a 5,000-km rail framework centred on Lhasa by 2035, Hubei-based Huayuan Securities said.
"Parts of the route will also run near the China-India Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border between the two countries, giving it defensive importance in a frontier area with less infrastructure than the rest of China," the report said.
China's mega infrastructure project on the route, the Xinjiang-Tibet highway, also known as the G219 highway, was built through the disputed Aksai Chin area, which was a major flashpoint in the 1962 war.
India asserts Aksai Chin as an integral part of its territory based on historical claims and past treaties.