China finishes construction of Tibet rail line close to Arunachal Pradesh amid tensions

BEIJING: Amid the escalating tensions with India, China has officially completed the track-laying work for a railway line linking Lhasa and Nyingchi in Tibet, which is very close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh. Official data reveals that about $4.8 billion have been invested in the ambitious project.

According to official reports, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, will be the second railway into Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway starts from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province and travels through Ya'an and enters Tibet via Qamdo, shortening the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to 13 hours.

Linzhi, also known as Nyingchi, is located close to Arunachal Pradesh border.

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Xi Jinping, President of China, instructed officials to expedite construction of the new railway project connecting Sichuan Province and Linzhi in Tibet, triggering tensions in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.

With a designed speed of 160 km per hour, the 435-km rail line passes through 47 tunnels and 120 bridges. President Xi apparently believes that the construction of this project will help in "border stability."

Construction started in 2014 on the railway connecting Lhasa, the regional capital, and Nyingchi in eastern Tibet. It slated to begin operations in June 2021.

Interestingly, more than 90% of the railway has been built in areas more than 3,000 metres above sea level, posing a great challenge.

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