Chinese President Xi Jinping instructs to expedite construction of rail line close to Arunachal

Beijing: Igniting major concerns in India amid the border stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the construction of the much controversial new railway project close to Arunachal is underway. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday instructed officials to expedite the USD 47.8 billion (319.8 billion yuan) project which will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world’s most geologically active areas.

Xi urging for the project to be completed at the earliest has caused major concerns in the state of Arunachal Pradesh located just across the border in India.

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 is located close to the Arunachal Pradesh border. Linzhi also has an airport which is one of the five airports built by China in the Himalayan region. It will be the second railway line into Tibet after the Qinghai- Tibet Railway project.

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The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between the two countries.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of south Tibet which is firmly rejected by India. In the past, the visits of BJP leaders to the frontier state has irked China.

The Ya’an-Linzhi section runs 1,011 km with 26 stations. Trains are expected to run at speeds between 120 and 200 km per hour.

China argues that the Sichuan-Tibet Railway megaproject will not only accelerate and enhance the overall economic development of the Tibet region, but will play an important role in safeguarding national unity, promoting ethnic solidarity, and consolidating stability in border areas. China's alleged encroachments, meanwhile, has worried the Arunachal Pradesh leadership, with MP Tapir Gao raising the issue in the Indian Parliament several times.

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