Justin Joseph
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Army studying ‘lake’ on Pak-China road1
New Delhi, June 12: The Indian Army is studying the military implications of the formation of an artificial lake that has blocked the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan -occupied Kashmir, the only land route linking Pakistan and China through the strategic Khunjerab pass.
Confirming this, defence sources said the Army is studying the effects of the disruption caused by the artificial lake on Sino-Pakistan military trade and clandestine movement of armaments on the Karakoram Highway. Indian defence sources said the movement of military equipment via the land route between China and Pakistan has been affected.
The 20-km-long artificial lake was created in January this year after a landslide hit the picturesque Hunza valley in the Northern Areas of Gilgit-Baltistan in ***.
The Army estimates it could take one-and-a-half years for normalcy to be restored to the functioning of the highway, which is also referred to by the Pakistanis as the “Friendship Highway” to emphasise its close ties with China.
Sources said the artificial lake and its consequences had unnerved the Pakistani military and civilian leadership with both the Pakistan Army Chief, Gen. Ashraf Kayani, and the PM, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, visiting the site to assess the fallout. The Karakoram Highway connects Gilgit in *** with China’s troubled Xinjiang province.
The Indian military is keenly watching the situation since a large number of variants of Chinese and North Korean missiles are believed to have made their way to Pakistan from China in the past via the Karakoram Highway. Both China and Pakistan have always denied this.
The landslide has also come as a setback to envisaged rail links through the Karakoram Highway which could further bolster movement of military equipment between Pakistan and China.
The establishment of a motorable land route between the two countries became possible following the 1963 Sino-Pakistan agreement under which Pakistan illegally ceded over 5,000 sq. km of land in North Kashmir to China.
Army studying ?lake? on Pak-China road1 | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-06-13
New Delhi, June 12: The Indian Army is studying the military implications of the formation of an artificial lake that has blocked the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan -occupied Kashmir, the only land route linking Pakistan and China through the strategic Khunjerab pass.
Confirming this, defence sources said the Army is studying the effects of the disruption caused by the artificial lake on Sino-Pakistan military trade and clandestine movement of armaments on the Karakoram Highway. Indian defence sources said the movement of military equipment via the land route between China and Pakistan has been affected.
The 20-km-long artificial lake was created in January this year after a landslide hit the picturesque Hunza valley in the Northern Areas of Gilgit-Baltistan in ***.
The Army estimates it could take one-and-a-half years for normalcy to be restored to the functioning of the highway, which is also referred to by the Pakistanis as the “Friendship Highway” to emphasise its close ties with China.
Sources said the artificial lake and its consequences had unnerved the Pakistani military and civilian leadership with both the Pakistan Army Chief, Gen. Ashraf Kayani, and the PM, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, visiting the site to assess the fallout. The Karakoram Highway connects Gilgit in *** with China’s troubled Xinjiang province.
The Indian military is keenly watching the situation since a large number of variants of Chinese and North Korean missiles are believed to have made their way to Pakistan from China in the past via the Karakoram Highway. Both China and Pakistan have always denied this.
The landslide has also come as a setback to envisaged rail links through the Karakoram Highway which could further bolster movement of military equipment between Pakistan and China.
The establishment of a motorable land route between the two countries became possible following the 1963 Sino-Pakistan agreement under which Pakistan illegally ceded over 5,000 sq. km of land in North Kashmir to China.
Army studying ?lake? on Pak-China road1 | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-06-13