Ligen Eliyas softly twists the hydraulic arm of the excavator to drive a massive boulder into the Zanskar River under a cloud of dust, clearing another little bit of land for a vital freeway that India quickly builds near the Chinese border.
The building site near the village of Chilling in the Ladakh district is about 250 kilometers (150 miles) west of the world where Indian and Chinese troops are locked into the most intense conflict in almost 50 years.
But when it is prepared, the highway will present a year-round entrance to the large Ladakh products, along with the borderline. That’s going to be the way to put India on par with China, which has a population of roads and helipads on its border facet.
“It’s going to be much better for the army after this path is done,” Eliyas said, with components of his face and khaki uniform caked in incredible stone dirt.
The protracted standoff in the distant western Himalayan region culminated in a bloody hand-to-hand battle in June, in which 20 Indian troops were killed and China suffered an unspecified number of casualties. The Asian giants fought a brief but bloody border battle in 1962.
The 283-km (176-mile)-long Nimmu-Padam-Darcha (NPD) motorway, where Eliyas works, is scheduled to be completed in three years, officials said. It highlights India’s efforts, which have been redoubled following recent tensions, to build the main infrastructure – ports, tunnels, bridges, and airfields – along the 3,500 km (2,170 miles) boundary with China.
The highway will connect up with an 8.8 km (5.5 miles) tunnel that will be inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming weeks, opening up the Ladakh snow deserts – bordering Tibet – that will be controlled by India to the rest of the country all year round.
Two major highways link Ladakh to the rest of India but are closed for no less than 4 months each winter. The only emergency solution given is to be sent to Ladakh during these months is by air.
With 1000 of its troops massed at the border and no sign of retreat, India is now aiming for a more long-lasting blast and splitting its path across the Himalayas.
“We will not back down from taking any major and difficult move in the interests of our country,” said Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in charge of Parliament this month, despite the federal government, has doubled the funding for development projects at the border with China.
