China plans Pakistan rail link to Arabian Sea

Time:2010-07-14 Browse:47 Author:RISINGSUN

CHINA plans to develop a rail link across the Karakoram into Pakistan through the Gilgit-Baltistan region that is part of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to reports from Pakistan, Beijing and Islamabad are likely to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a feasibility study on building the trans-Karakoram railway line during President Asif Ali Zardari`s visit to China, reports Indian Express.


As the first train track across the Great Himalayas, the line will run nearly 700 kilometres from Kashgar in Xinjiang province to Havelian near Rawalpindi in northern Pakistan through the Khunjerab Pass.


The report noted that "Given its claim to sovereignty over the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, India has naturally objected to the Chinese economic and infrastructure projects, including the Karakoram highway, in parts of the state under Pakistan`s control."


"Over the longer term though, India will have to think more strategically about the consequences of the emerging connectivity between western China and the subcontinent through projects sponsored by Beijing," it said.


China is believed to be considering a plan to expand its Tibet railway into Nepal. It is expanding roadways between its Yunnan province and northern Myanmar and exploring the prospects for a rail link. Afghanistan too has been pressing Beijing to develop transportation routes between the two nations through the Wakhan corridor. Meanwhile, there is growing support in the region and beyond for trans-Asian road and rail networks.


The proposal for a rail link between landlocked Xinjiang in China`s far west and the Arabian Sea through Pakistan has been under discussion for some time. Chinese companies have apparently completed a pre-feasibility study on a rail project that would cross one of the most challenging terrains in the world, the report added.