Indian PM opens strategic tunnel to China border zones

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic Himalayan road tunnel on Monday, pushing all-weather access northwards towards contested high-altitude border zones with neighbours China and Pakistan.

The $932 million project includes a second tunnel and a series of bridges and high mountain roads that will link Kashmir with Ladakh, a cold desert region nestled between India, Pakistan and China that has faced territorial disputes for decades.

Amid high security, Narendra Modi visited the resort town of Sonamarg where he inaugurated the 6.5-kilometre tunnel.

The town denotes the end of the conifer-clad mountains of the Kashmir Valley before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass. The tunnel, named Z-Morh, will now grant it accessibility for the first time all year round.

The second tunnel, about 14 kilometres long, will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh and is expected to be completed in 2026.

Sonamarg and Ladakh have been plagued with severe snowfalls that close the mountain passes due to massive snowfalls, forcing them to remain cut off from neighboring towns for nearly six months every year.

Authorities on Monday deployed police and soldiers in the area and established multiple checkpoints at key intersections as an enhanced security measure for the prime minister's visit.

Troops also stationed sharpshooters at several points and carried out drone surveillance to ensure constant vigilance.

Modi later at a public meeting, attended by hundreds of people in freezing weather, said the ambitious project would improve road connectivity and boost tourism in the region. The meeting also was attended by some of Modi's Cabinet ministers and Kashmir's chief minister Omar Abdullah.

A view of a hamlet during the inauguration of the Z-Morh tunnel project by Narendra Modi, in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district. Reuters

The Z-Morh or Sonmarg tunnel, stretching 6.4 kilometres beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for between four to six months a year, is part of a wider infrastructure drive in border zones.

It helps connect Indian-administered Kashmir with Ladakh, acting as a stepping stone in opening the Srinagar-Leh Highway all year round to allow rapid deployment of military supplies.

"With the opening of the tunnel here, connectivity will significantly improve," Modi said, wrapped in a jacket from the freezing cold after cutting the ribbon on the $313 million project that has taken a decade to construct.

Another tunnel on the same route, the 13-kilometre (eight-mile) long Zojila tunnel, is more than halfway completed and slated to open in 2026, according to the information ministry.

The Z-Morh tunnel was the site of an attack in October in which gunmen killed seven workers.

India has also built a $3.9 billion railway line connecting the lowland plains with Kashmir for the first time, including the construction of the Chenab Rail Bridge, the highest of its kind in the world.

The 272-kilometre railway begins in the garrison city of Udhampur, headquarters of the army's northern command, and runs through the region's capital Srinagar.

Agencies