Army passes intel to Govt: PLA men at pass linking PoK to China

Army passes intel to Govt: PLA men at pass linking PoK to China

Army passes intel to Govt: PLA men at pass linking PoK to China

Shishir Gupta

Tags : Khunjerab Pass, China, Gilgit, People’s Liberation Army, Xinjiang, Army

Posted: Tue Aug 31 2010, 01:53 hrs

Updated: Tue Aug 31 2010, 08:01 hrs

New Delhi:

The Army has received confirmation that China deployed an infantry battalion of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the 15,397-feet Khunjerab Pass on the Karakoram highway this month for the security of its workers engaged in building a railroad. This railroad will eventually connect Xinjiang to the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Khunjerab Pass straddles the border between China and PoK and is 272 km from Gilgit in the Northern Areas. This PLA deployment is expected to be raised to brigade strength (3,000 troops) as work on the railroad progresses in the Northern Areas.

Writing in The New York Times — the article was carried by The Indian Express — Selig S Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy, reported that 7,000-11,000 PLA troops are already in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The Indian Army brass has taken note of the deployment of 1,000 troops at Khunjerab Pass but is not unduly alarmed about the build-up.

According to Harrison, China wants a grip on the region to assure unfettered rail and road access to the Gulf through Pakistan. His report also spoke of the presence of some possible missile silos.

Army sources here said the PLA infantry battalion is presently being acclimatized for long-term deployment at the Khunjerab Pass.

The Army has passed on this intelligence to the departments concerned for independent verification. Given the Parliamentary resolution on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, India is bound to protest if Chinese PLA troops actually enter Northern Areas.

The PLA deployment is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff Committee scheduled for the first week of September. The meeting, to be chaired by Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, will assess the development and accordingly inform the Defence Ministry or the Cabinet Committee on Security.

The military assessment, based on intelligence inputs, suggests that the PLA battalion is involved in providing security to Chinese Han workers building the high speed rail and road link to Gwadar and ports at Pasni and Omara on the Makran coast.

“The deployment may be to support its infrastructure in the Northern Areas in the long run but the immediate issue is the possibility of Pakistan-based jihadis linking up with the largely Muslim population of the sensitive Xinjiang province,” said a senior official. The PLA keeps the area under strict control to avoid infiltration from the Northern Areas.

Pakistan is now officially a Chinese colony

Pakistan won't allow US troops, but China is no problem. Why? Because they are now officially a part of Peoples Republic of China. Iran is next!