Defence
Indian Railways Inches Closer To Sikkim-Tibet Border Amid Tensions With China; Work On Sivok-Rangpo Line In Full Swing
The ancient Nathu La border crossing between India and China. (Diptendu Dutta/GettyImage)
With the speeding up of work on the 44.98-km Sivok-Rangpo Railway Line, Indian Railways is inching closer to the Sikkim-Tibet border.
The development comes amid heightened tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since May 2020, when China deployed a large number of troops and heavy equipment to change the status quo in eastern Ladakh.
India’s counter-deployment in response has led to a tense standoff which has seen multiple clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops.
Just last year (December 2022), Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Yangtse locality of the Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Rs 4,086 crore railway line is of strategic importance as it brings the Indian forces close to LAC.
Until now, Sikkim was connected with the rest of India only through a highway, ‘NH-31A’. The NH-31A is prone to frequent disruptions due to landslides during the monsoon season.
The deadline for the railway project is December 2023.
The railway line will give all-weather direct connectivity to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.
Furthermore, there are plans to extend this railway line from Gangtok to Nathu La which is an officially recognised border crossing between India and China.
In 1967, Nathu La saw clashes between Indian and Chinese troops resulting in significant casualties on both sides.
According to various defence experts, Nathu La clashes resulted in an Indian victory after which the border has had peace for almost six decades, barring the 1986 Sumdurung-Chu incident.
Although India has already improved the pace of construction of border infrastructure along the LAC, the ongoing standoff has given even more urgency to complete these projects.
The Indian government has almost doubled the budget for the Border Road Organisation (BRO) since financial year 2021-22.
The budget for the year 2023-24 saw an increase of almost 43 per cent, from Rs 3,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
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