China Builds Up Army Capacity On India-Tibet Border

Dharamshala: The Chinese government, in case of a threat scenario with India, now has the capability of deploying more than half-a-million troops and sustaining them for over a month on the Indo-Tibetan border, also called the Line of Actual Control, according to the Indian Express. Last month a presentation was given to PM Manmohan Singh by the Indian Army, disclosing the details of Chinese army capacities and the recent build-up of infrastructure in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region.

As part of major infrastructure upgradation in Tibet and east Turkestan, China has plans to establish another 70.000 km of black-top roads, to extend the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Golmund to Lhasa and thereon to Shigatse (close to Sikkim), to construct railways connecting Kathmandu, Myanmar, Bhutan, Pakistan and Central Asian republics as well as plans to build 11 new rail lines in Tibet and Xinjiang, which will ensure rapid deployment of troops or so called PLA.

Also included in the report was information that there are eight airfields in Tibet, including five operational ones; 18 air bases in Tibet and east Turkestan have the capability to put India under range of Sukhoi 27 aircraft.