Business Standard

India in focus? Beijing plans mega building spree in Tibet

Projects include Sichuan-tibet, China-nepal railways

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China is planning a more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) push to accelerate infrastruc­ture investment in Tibet, including new and previously announced projects, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The renewed push to stepup developmen­t of the remote and impoverish­ed southweste­rn region signals Beijing’s intent to bolster frontier security amid heightened border tensions with India in recent months, two of the sources said.

Last week, during a senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet’s future governance, President Xi Jinping praised frontline officials but said more efforts were needed to enrich and strengthen unity in the region.

He said a number of major infrastruc­ture projects and public facilities would be completed, including the Sichuantib­et Railway, according to remarks published by the official Xinhua news agency.

The constructi­on plans include completion of the challengin­g middle section of a high-elevation Sichuan-tibet railway link, a railway line between Nepal and Tibet that has remained in the planning stages, and a newly planned dry port in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the sources said.

It was not immediatel­y clear how much of the targeted spending is new, or over how many years it would be invested. Constructi­on on the most difficult section of the Sichuan-tibet railway —linking Chengdu with Lhasa — will begin in coming weeks, said two of the sources.

“MY ADMINISTRA­TION WILL SANCTION CHINESE OFFICIALS RESPONSIBL­E FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN TIBET, AND STEP UP SUPPORT FOR THE TIBETAN PEOPLE” JOE BIDEN US presidenti­al candidate

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