Beijing: China plans to extend a railway line linking Tibet with the rest of the country to the borders of India, Nepal and Bhutan by 2020 once an extension to a key site in Tibetan Buddhism opens, a state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.
China opened the railway to Lhasa in 2006, which passes spectacular icy peaks on the Tibetan highlands, touching altitude as high as 5,000 metres above sea level, as part of government efforts to boost development.
The Global Times, published by the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece People’s Daily, said that an extension to Shigatse, the traditional seat of Panchen Lama, would formally open in August.
That link is scheduled for its own extension during the 2016-2020 period to two separate points, one on the border of Nepal and the other on the border with India and Bhutan, the newspaper cited Yang Yulin, deputy head of Tibet’s railways, as saying. China has long mooted this plan, but the difficulty and expense has slowed efforts. Tibet is a highly sensitive region because of its strategic position next to India, Nepal and Myanmar.
