Beijing-Lhasa key road link completed

What is the News?

China has completed a Lhasa-Nagqu section of the Beijing-Lhasa expressway.

What is Beijing–Lhasa Expressway?

Beijing–Lhasa Expressway is part of the Chinese national expressway network.

It is planned to connect China’s capital Beijing to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa.

It also connects China’s Central Theatre Command with the Western Theatre Command, which is responsible for the border with India.

The expressway will pass through seven major cities of China including Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai and Lhasa with an approximate length of 3,710 km.

Note: In June 2021, China had launched a high-speed bullet train connecting Lhasa with Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan town located close to Arunachal Pradesh.

What are the strategic implications of the Beijing–Lhasa Expressway for India?

The Beijing–Lhasa Expressway has enormous strategic implications for India.

Once the expressway gets completed, it would allow the Chinese army to comfortably cover the distance of 3,725 km from Beijing to Lhasa in four days or less during emergencies.

The expressway would also ensure a very smooth flow of convoy traffic without any bottlenecks or any additional burden on manpower.

Source: This post is based on the article “Beijing-Lhasa key road link completed” published in The Hindu on 27th Sep 2021.