Indian engineers broke through the final rock section in the strategic Zojila tunnel through a Himalayan mountain on Tuesday, a milestone in providing all-weather access to the frontier Ladakh region with China.
India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia. Ties have thawed since a 2020 border clash, but their 3,500-kilometre frontier has been a perennial source of tension.
The tunnel forms part of a broader infrastructure push, creating a link with roads and railways that will allow trade, troops and supplies to move year-round from India’s sweltering lowland plains to the soaring icy border zones.
“This is not just a tunnel but a lifeline,” said India’s minister of roads, Nitin Gadkari, during a breakthrough ceremony on Tuesday at the high-altitude tunnel, which is part of a route designed to rapidly improve connectivity between Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, and Leh, Ladakh’s key city.
At present, road travel between the cities is blocked during winter due to heavy snowfall, which can often rise higher than a truck.
Diggers cut through the final stretch of rock in a milestone in the creation of the 13.14-kilometre Zojila tunnel, which will connect two sides otherwise cut off by snow during the bitter winters.
More than 3,000 workers have been involved since 2020 in excavating the tunnel, which passes beneath the 3,528-metre Zojila Pass.
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