World's highest rail bridge to strengthen India's strategic hold on disputed Kashmir
India's strategic intent in the disputed region of Kashmir, one of India's only two Muslim-majority regions has been underscored in a newly constructed bridge.
Towering across the mountain range in the Himalayas, the Chenab Rail Bridge, standing as the world's highest of its kind is set to fortify India's control in a region that has a deep-seated history of resistance against Indian rule.
For the first time, it establishes a direct train link between the restive Kashmir valley and the expansive Indian plains.
"The bridge is going to be helpful in the larger movement of troops and of ammunition because previously it was buses and trucks that would bring people and take people. We would have army convoys moving in because there was disruption on the roads," Noor Ahmad Aaba, political analyst is quoted by the AFP.
"It would give connectivity of Kashmir to the rest of the world. Therefore, I think it would be constantly helping the feeding of security forces whether they are in Ladakh, operating from Ladakh, or from the border area of Kashmir so that way, it is going to be helpful," he added.
In March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir since the controversial decision in 2019 to revoke the region's special semi-autonomous status, a move that was met with resistance in Kashmir.
According to the AFP report, the Chenab Rail Bridge, however, has ignited apprehensions among some locals in a region that is home to a permanent garrison of over half a million soldiers.
