India builds tunnels connecting Kashmir with the strategically important region of Ladakh

[FOOLS_NIGHTMARE]

High in a rocky Himalayan mountain range in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, hundreds of people are working on an ambitious project to drill tunnels and construct bridges to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold-desert region isolated half the year because of massive snowfall.

Key points:

• Ladakh shares borders with China and Pakistan
• The project's last tunnel will be about 14 kilometres long and bypass the challenging Zojila pass
• Indian officials say the tunnel will be India's longest and highest, at 3,485 metres

Strategically important Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China.

Officials say a 6.5-kilometre tunnel, the first of four, is already complete and will make the resort town of Sonamarg accessible during the winter months for the first time.

Sonamarg marks the end of conifer-clad mountains before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass.

The $US932 million ($1.2 billion) project's last tunnel, about 14 kilometres long, will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh.

Officials say it will be India's longest and highest tunnel at 3,485 metres.

Ladakh is a strategically important region for India because it shares borders with China and Pakistan.

"It's not like any other construction work. It's great learning," said one of the workers, Tariq Ahmed Lone, as he helped at a drilling machine.

Indian and Chinese soldiers have been engaged in a sometimes violent standoff in the Karakoram mountains in Ladakh for over 16 months, along a de facto border called the Line of Actual Control.

Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers there, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

The area has been the scene of confrontations between Chinese and Indian forces.

Indian military planners view the tunnel project as extremely important for Ladakh.

Experts say it will provide logistical flexibility to the military, and give it operational and strategic mobility.

Politicians also see an opportunity in the project.

The Zojila section of the tunnel is expected to be finished by the middle of the decade,

The Zojila part of the tunnel is to be functional in 2026, but India's road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said on a visit to the project site on Tuesday that he hoped the work would be finished before a 2024 general election.

"It's a challenge I know, but I'm confident they can do it on time," Mr Gadkari said.

"Obviously, we would want it to be finished before the elections."

Underneath the Himalayas, India is building kilometres of strategically important tunnels

The tunnels will connect the flashpoint region of Ladakh, bordering China and Pakistan, with Kashmir making it India's highest and longest tunnel at over three kilometres above sea level.

www.abc.net.au

 

[magra]

View attachment 781246

High in a rocky Himalayan mountain range in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, hundreds of people are working on an ambitious project to drill tunnels and construct bridges to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold-desert region isolated half the year because of massive snowfall.

Key points:

• Ladakh shares borders with China and Pakistan
• The project's last tunnel will be about 14 kilometres long and bypass the challenging Zojila pass
• Indian officials say the tunnel will be India's longest and highest, at 3,485 metres

Strategically important Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China.

Officials say a 6.5-kilometre tunnel, the first of four, is already complete and will make the resort town of Sonamarg accessible during the winter months for the first time.

Sonamarg marks the end of conifer-clad mountains before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass.

The $US932 million ($1.2 billion) project's last tunnel, about 14 kilometres long, will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh.

Officials say it will be India's longest and highest tunnel at 3,485 metres.

Ladakh is a strategically important region for India because it shares borders with China and Pakistan.

"It's not like any other construction work. It's great learning," said one of the workers, Tariq Ahmed Lone, as he helped at a drilling machine.

Indian and Chinese soldiers have been engaged in a sometimes violent standoff in the Karakoram mountains in Ladakh for over 16 months, along a de facto border called the Line of Actual Control.

Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers there, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

The area has been the scene of confrontations between Chinese and Indian forces.

Indian military planners view the tunnel project as extremely important for Ladakh.

Experts say it will provide logistical flexibility to the military, and give it operational and strategic mobility.

Politicians also see an opportunity in the project.

The Zojila section of the tunnel is expected to be finished by the middle of the decade,

The Zojila part of the tunnel is to be functional in 2026, but India's road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said on a visit to the project site on Tuesday that he hoped the work would be finished before a 2024 general election.

"It's a challenge I know, but I'm confident they can do it on time," Mr Gadkari said.

"Obviously, we would want it to be finished before the elections."

Underneath the Himalayas, India is building kilometres of strategically important tunnels

The tunnels will connect the flashpoint region of Ladakh, bordering China and Pakistan, with Kashmir making it India's highest and longest tunnel at over three kilometres above sea level.

www.abc.net.au

India always had problem defending J&K due to poor connectivity with rest of the country, as there were not enough all-weather roads.
The present administration has worked hard to build such tunnels to cut short distances. They have also worked on extending the railway line from Jammu upto Srinagar.

 

[beijingwalker]

So Indian occupied Kashmir is more than 3 sides enlosed by China and Pakistan and only one narrow side connects with India, this narrow side can be easily cut off by a pincer movement by China and Pakistan, geographically this location is extremely bad for India.

 

[SIPRA]

So Indian occupied Kashmir is more than 3 sides enlosed by China and Pakistan and only one narrow side connects with India, this narrow side can be easily cut off by a pincer movement by China and Pakistan, geographically this location is extremely bad for India.

The issue is that China, right from the times of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, have always treated India with very soft gloves, for the reason, that they always took US and Western imperialist forces, as their real enemy, and not India, per se. Initially, right from 1949 to, at least, 1960, Zhou Enlai had great regard for Nehru and India. This is the time, when China and Pakistan were not on very good terms.

 

[Asfandyar Bhittani]

So Indian occupied Kashmir is more than 3 sides enlosed by China and Pakistan and only one narrow side connects with India, this narrow side can be easily cut off by a pincer movement by China and Pakistan, geographically this location is extremely bad for India.

It is but neither China nor Pakistan has ever coordinated efforts to do anything about it. With India on the verge of abandoning its 'non-aligned' policy to join the anti-china bloc, I think it's time that serious discussions are held in Islamabad and Beijing about Kashmir in case a war ever breaks out. If it's another Indo-Pak war, China can help out Pakistan tremendously by active & passive actions. From military buildup at the border (preferably Arunachal Pradesh) to force India to reposition more troops & equipment from the Pakistani front, to flying AEW&Cs near Ladakh and Kashmir & providing data to PAF. If it's a hot war between China & India too, PLAAF can play a major role even if PLA can not due to terrain.

China will eventually overtake the American economy, most likely in the late 2020s. It might overtake the US military by 2049. But this still won't account for the fact that the US has a range of allies, surrounding china from South West and all the way to North East. Some of these allies it would fight for because of their strategic positions. If China wants to become a superpower, it would have to form reliable alliances of its own.

Pakistan on the other hand will soon be forced to make some strategic choices as India becomes a frontline ally against China for the west. Islamabad & Pindi are probably already asking themselves, can we counter Indian military buildup on our own? If yes, How about a decade from now when the west has opened up its war chest to Delhi like it recently did with Australia?

 

[SIPRA]

It is but neither China nor Pakistan has ever coordinated efforts to do anything about it. With India on the verge of abandoning its 'non-aligned' policy to join the anti-china bloc, I think it's time that serious discussions are held in Islamabad and Beijing about Kashmir in case a war ever breaks out. If it's another Indo-Pak war, China can help out Pakistan tremendously by active & passive actions. From military buildup at the border (preferably Arunachal Pradesh) to force India to reposition more troops & equipment from the Pakistani front, to flying AEW&Cs near Ladakh and Kashmir & providing data to PAF. If it's a hot war between China & India too, PLAAF can play a major role even if PLA can not due to terrain.

China will eventually overtake the American economy, most likely in the late 2020s. It might overtake the US military by 2049. But this still won't account for the fact that the US has a range of allies, surrounding china from South West and all the way to North East. Some of these allies it would fight for because of their strategic positions. If China wants to become a superpower, it would have to form reliable alliances of its own.

Pakistan on the other hand will soon be forced to make some strategic choices as India becomes a frontline ally against China for the west. Islamabad & Pindi are probably already asking themselves, can we counter Indian military buildup on our own? If yes, How about a decade from now when the west has opened up its war chest to Delhi like it recently did with Australia?

China doesn't normally enter into "security alliances", with any country, in contrast with US. It generally likes to go solo.

 

[Asfandyar Bhittani]

China doesn't normally enter into "security alliances", with any country, in contrast with US. It likes to go solo.

That's the point. The United States is a superpower not just because of its military but also because of a network of alliances stretching from Europe to the Pacific, right at the doorsteps of its adversaries. Gives it a lot of diplomatic & strategic advantages in peacetime and in wars.

 

[SIPRA]

That's the point. The United States is a superpower not just because of its military but also because of a network of alliances stretching from Europe to the Pacific, right at the doorsteps of its adversaries. Gives it a lot of diplomatic & strategic advantages in peacetime and in wars.

Yes. But, in any case, it is the China's prerogative, whether they want to go for a broad-based security alliance, with any country, or not. No one has right to claim or impose it upon them.

 

[Turingsage]

 

[Saudang]

So Indian occupied Kashmir is more than 3 sides enlosed by China and Pakistan and only one narrow side connects with India, this narrow side can be easily cut off by a pincer movement by China and Pakistan, geographically this location is extremely bad for India.

Its not going to be easy to mount a pincer movement by China from Chinese Occupied Tibet, given that moving armour across the Himalayas will be an impossible task

 

[SIPRA]

Its not going to be easy to mount a pincer movement by China from Chinese Occupied Tibet, given that moving armour across the Himalayas will be an impossible task

Don't worry. It would not take, possibly more than 24 hours, by the Chinese, to capture and occupy, the whole of Shylok river valley, east of Karakoram mountains range, if they want it.

 

[Windjammer]

We are all well aware of endian human remain, could have been more if uncle clinton had not intervene.

Also saved by 5 Rupee Coins.

 

[AgnosticIndian]

it's amazing that Pakistan's leadership meeting with Clinton at the time where US Pakistan client relationship was not even that starined by WoT, and being forced to end the war is somehow seen by Pakistanis as Clinton "saving" India. It was your war, should have ignored Clinton and pounded India anyway na.

 

[maverick1977]

India always had problem defending J&K due to poor connectivity with rest of the country, as there were not enough all-weather roads.
The present administration has worked hard to build such tunnels to cut short distances. They have also worked on extending the railway line from Jammu upto Srinagar.

lol, when did they have problem defending JK with half a million soldiers..

 

[beijingwalker]

Its not going to be easy to mount a pincer movement by China from Chinese Occupied Tibet, given that moving armour across the Himalayas will be an impossible task

You don't know that China high speed railway had already reached Indian border this year?