An ambitious new railway line between Xinjiang and Tibet that runs close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and through the disputed Aksai Chin region will soon be built by China. By 2025, the first section, which runs from Shigatse to Pakhuktso, will be finished, and the rest of the line, which goes all the way up to Hotan, is expected to be finished by 2035.
In the lead-up to the war in 1962, tensions between India and China had been stoked by the construction of the Xinjiang-Tibet highway through Aksai Chin.
The proposed railway will begin in Shigatse, Tibet, travel northwest along the Nepalese border, cut through Aksai Chin, then reach Hotan, Xinjiang, in the north. On the Chinese side of the LAC, the planned route will go through Rutog and around Pangong Lake. By 2025, the first section, which runs from Shigatse to Pakhuktso, will be finished, and the rest of the line, which goes all the way up to Hotan, is expected to be finished by 2035.
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