Beijing, Aug 12: Beijing is set to launch construction this year on an ambitious rail project linking Xinjiang with Tibet, with parts of the route running close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported.
The new Xinjiang-Tibet Railway will connect Hotan in Xinjiang to Lhasa in Tibet. The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company (XTRC), wholly owned by China State Railway Group, has been formally registered with an initial capital of 95 billion yuan ($13.2 billion). The total cost is expected to be far higher, given that the 1,800-km Sichuan-Tibet Railway required an estimated 320 billion yuan ($45 billion).
Analysts say the project is part of Beijing’s long-term plan to establish a 5,000-km plateau rail network centred on Lhasa by 2035. The line’s proximity to the LAC gives it defensive significance in a region with limited infrastructure, echoing earlier projects such as the G219 highway built through the disputed Aksai Chin area—one of the flashpoints of the 1962 India-China war.
India continues to assert that Aksai Chin is an integral part of its territory, while China controls the area. The new railway would be one of four lines linking Tibet to the rest of China. The Qinghai-Tibet line is already operational, while work on the Sichuan-Tibet and Yunnan-Tibet routes continues.
The timing of the announcement is notable, coming as India and China cautiously move toward normalising relations after a prolonged freeze following the Eastern Ladakh standoff. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met last year on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia, paving the way for renewed engagement. Modi is expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on August 31.
