India and China race to build along disputed frontier

[John Ashworth]

India and China race to build along a disputed frontier

India and China are trying to out-build each other along their disputed Himalayan border...

After years of letting its infrastructure fall into neglect, India is frantically trying to develop its borderlands to neutralise China's logistical advantage. It has begun a vast road and railway construction programme in the region... Delhi has also approved nine "strategic" rail lines - including the Missamari-Tenga-Tawang and the Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh sections. These run along the border with China and would allow the Indian military to carry heavy armour into position...

Beijing began building roads in the Himalayan region as early as the 1950s, and now has an extensive road and rail network in Tibet and Yunnan Province... There is also a new rail line under construction connecting Shigatse - the second largest city in Tibet - to Chengdu via Nyingchi, close to the Indian border. Another rail link is planned between Shigatse and Yadong, a trading centre next to Sikkim, a Himalayan state in north-east India, where a skirmish took place between Indian and Chinese troops in early May...