Indian PM Opens Strategic Tunnel to China Border Zones

India China direct flights resume by late October, India’s embassy says. IndiGo starts daily Kolkata–Guangzhou on Oct 26.
Indian PM Narendra Modi commissioned the 6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel in the Himalayas on January 13, 2025. India China direct flights resume by late October, India’s embassy says. IndiGo starts daily Kolkata–Guangzhou on Oct 26. Image via PTI.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic Himalayan road tunnel on Monday, pushing all-weather access northwards towards contested high-altitude border zones with rivals China and Pakistan.

The Z-Morh or Sonmarg tunnel, stretching 6.4 kilometers beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for between four to six months a year, is part of a wider infrastructure drive in border zones.

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by Eric Olander

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