Amid Ladakh standoff, report says China planning new highway along LAC with India - details of proposed route

FOOLS_NIGHTMARE · Jul 22, 2022

The highway known as G695 is expected to run through Cona county, which lies immediately north of the LAC, Kamba county, bordering Sikkim and Gyirong county near the border with Nepal, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

New Delhi: In what is sure to ring in alarm bells in the Indian establishment, a media report stated on Wednesday that China is planning to build a new highway along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. Beijing plans to build the highway, running from Lhunze county in Tibet to Mazha in Xinjiang.

The highway known as G695 is expected to run through Cona county, which lies immediately north of the LAC, Kamba county, bordering Sikkim and Gyirong county near the border with Nepal, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

“It will also go through Burang county between Tibet, Nepal and India as well as Zanda county in Ngari prefecture, parts of which are held by India,” the report further stated.

The report said that there is a possibility that the planned highway by China may also go near the hotly contested areas such as the Depsang Plains, Galwan Valley and Hot Springs on the LAC.

The report came a day after new satellite images showed that China is constructing a Chinese village East of the Doklam plateau on the Bhutanese side. It may be noted that both the nuclear-powered nations were locked in a 73-day stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction in 2017 after Beijing tried to extend a road in the area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it.

"The new satellite images, sourced from Maxar, indicate that a second village in the Amo Chu river valley is now virtually complete while China has stepped up construction of a third village or habitation further South," a news channel said in its report.

India and China have been engaged in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 2022.

The 16th round India- China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on July 17, 2022.

India’s Defence Ministry released the joint statement which read that both the countries had a frank and in-depth exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.