OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic Himalayan road tunnel on Monday, pushing all-weather access northwards towards contested high-altitude border zones with rivals China and Pakistan.
The Z-Morh or Sonmarg tunnel, stretching 6.4 kilometres (four miles) beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for between four to six months a year, is part of a wider infrastructure drive in border zones.
It helps connect Illegally Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) with Ladakh, acting as a stepping stone in opening the occupied Srinagar-Leh Highway all year round to allow rapid deployment of military supplies.
“With the opening of the tunnel here, connectivity will significantly improve,” Modi said, wrapped in a jacket from the freezing cold after cutting the ribbon on the $313 million project that has taken a decade to construct.
India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia, and their 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension.
Their troops clashed in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, and forces from both sides today face off across contested high-altitude borderlands.
Beijing and New Delhi agreed in October on patrols in disputed areas, shortly before a rare formal meeting — the first in five years — between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Modi.
Another tunnel on the same route, the 13-kilometre (eight-mile) long Zojila tunnel, is more than halfway completed and slated to open in 2026, according to the information ministry.
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