China's high-speed train in Tibet carries out maiden military mission: Report
China's recently launched high-speed train connecting Tibet's provincial capital Lhasa with strategically located Nyingchi, a Tibetan town situated close to Arunachal Pradesh border, has been used for its first military transporting mission, official media here reported.
The newly opened Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway carried new recruits of a combined arms brigade affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command to an exercise field at an elevation of 4,500 meters, state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday.
This is the first time the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway, an important part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, has hosted a troop transport mission which marks another step forward on the systematic development of China's military transport, the daily quoted js7tv.cn, a news website affiliated with the PLA.
The high-speed railway serves as a boost to the capability of the PLA, the daily quoted analysts as saying.
The high speed train was part of China’s efforts to beef up border infrastructure which included well-developed road, rail and air networks for rapid movement of troops.
On July 23, President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to Nyingchi, becoming the first top Chinese leader to visit the Tibetan border town and travelled to Lhasa by high-speed train. It was also his first visit to Tibet as President.
Opened on June 25, the 435-kilometre-long railway line has a designed speed of 160 km per hour. It reduces the travel time from Lhasa to Nyingchi from 5 hours to approximately 3.5 hours.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). PTI KJV ZH AKJ ZH ZH
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