China on Friday started its first fully electrified bullet train in the remote Himalayan region of Tibet. It has connected the provincial capital Lhasa and Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, while India firmly rejects it. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping had instructed officials to expedite construction of the new railway project, connecting Sichuan Province and Nyingchi in Tibet, saying the new rail line would play a key role in safeguarding the border stability.
The 435.5-km Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway has been inaugurated ahead of the centenary celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China on July 1.