Why in the News?
China has launched the Xinjiang–Xizang Railway Line, a strategic, economic, and engineering milestone, connecting Xinjiang with Tibet.
About the Xinjiang–Xizang Railway Line:
- Overview: A major high-altitude railway project connecting Hotan in Xinjiang to Shigatse and Lhasa in Tibet (Xizang).
- Total length planned: ~2,000 km, part of China’s larger 5,000 km rail grid in Tibet by 2035.
- Construction is phased:
- Shigatse–Pakhuktso section (by 2025)
- Pakhuktso–Hotan section (by 2035).
- Terrain: Himalayas, Karakoram, Kunlun ranges, deserts, glaciers, and permafrost — average altitude above 4,500m.
- Significance: Seen as one of China’s most advanced and difficult transport projects, comparable to the Qinghai–Tibet Railway (2006).
Strategic Implications of the Project:
- Military Mobility: Proximity to Aksai Chin and Line of Actual Control (LAC) enhances Chinese troop deployment and logistics capabilities.
- Regional Integration: Links Xinjiang (Uyghur region) and Tibet (Buddhist region) with mainland China, supporting Sinicisation and demographic shifts.
- Economic Role: Opens remote high-altitude areas to trade, energy transport, and tourism, reducing isolation of minority regions.
- Political Control: Strengthens Beijing’s hold over restive border provinces and suppresses separatist tendencies.
- India Factor: Raises security concerns as India is also upgrading border infrastructure post-2020 Galwan clash.
- Part of “Go West Strategy” (2000): Long-term plan to develop western provinces with infrastructure and integrate them into China’s national economy.
| [UPSC 2023] With reference to India’s projects on connectivity, consider the following statements :
1. East-West Corridor under Golden Quadrilateral Project connects Dibrugarh and Surat. 2. Trilateral Highway connects Moreh in Manipur and Chiang Mai in Thailand via Myanmar. 3. Bangladesh-China -India -Myanmar Economic Corridor connects Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with Kunming in China. How many of the above statements are correct? Options: (a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All three (d) None* |
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
