China, Pak Ladakh Front: Roads Are Like Trees. Plant One & A Forest Develops: DG, BRO

India’s China, Pak Ladakh Front and the significance of critical connectivity. Watch this exclusive interview in Chiling, Ladakh with Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, the Director General (DG) of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). “Making a road is a measure of a nation’s sovereignty,” he tells us. He adds, it also exercises command and control and it says these are my people”. Watch ‘The Himalayan Frontier’. Part V with StratNews Global’s Amitabh P. Revi on the frozen Zanskar River ‘Chadar’ Trail at Chiling near Leh in Ladakh. This series of ground reports was filmed in Eastern Ladakh and Siachen in the backdrop of that two-front threat from China and Pakistan. Editor’s Note: This episode was first aired on February 2, 2024. It hit 100,000+ views on March 19, 2024

“Phenomenal Impetus”

Furthermore, in this interview, the DG, BRO says, “The last 5-6 years have seen a surge in what we are planning and doing in Ladakh. Firstly, in the amount of funding that is provided. Secondly, the way that projects are being cleared. All of it is phenomenal. We’ve not seen anything like it,” he concludes.

Third Axis To Leh

We ask about the differences in road infrastructure in China-occupied Tibet and across the LAC. Lt Gen Srinivasan explains, “the Tibetan Plateau is at a lower altitude-between 12000 to 14000 feet. And it’s a flat tabletop. There are no mountain ranges. So, whatever you’re constructing is on a flat piece of ground. Secondly, the mountains are the watershed. Therefore, whatever snow or moisture is going to come, is going to stop in our portion. For anyone who constructs roads, moisture or water is a great enemy. That’s what we need to work on. And see that we have adequate drainage. That makes sure whatever roads we construct are not washed away”.

The Himalayan Frontier; Episodes I-V

SNG’s team of Amitabh P. Revi, Rohit Pandita, and Karan Marwaha document India’s China, Pak Ladakh Front in their journey to Leh. Watch their travel on the strategic third, alternate axis—the Darcha-Padam-Nimu (NPD) Road in episode III and episode IV.  The route provides critical connectivity for defence and civilian movement around the China-occupied Tibet border or Line of Actual Control. The same goes for the Line of Control (LoC), and the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) in Siachen with Pakistan. The NPD Road is shielded from both the India-China border and the frontier with Pakistan, unlike the other two axes. 

Frontier Frontier

StratNews Global’s team travels during the fourth winter of India’s forward deployment after the deadly Galwan clashes in 2020. At this point, the freezing temperatures highlight one challenge the BRO faces in building roads on this route. India’s infrastructure development though has seen a sustained thrust. Especially after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) salami-slicing tactics in border areas. In part II of this series, the Indian Army Chief, General Manoj Pande tells StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale that talks are continuing but India is maintaining a robust posture along the LAC. Then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen. Upendra Dwivedi also tells Nitin Gokhale in Part I, that the “situation is stable but sensitive and not normal”.

 

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