Beijing: Even as the opening of the Nathula Pass, linking Sikkim with Tibet hogged the headlines last week, China and Pakistan have begun to push ahead with the renovation of the Karakoram Highway, the only overland connection between China and Pakistan.

According to China's official Xinhua agency, the China Road and Bridge Corporation, a state-owned construction firm, has signed a memorandum with the Pakistan highway administration to begin work on the upgradation of the highway by the end of the year. To begin with, the 335-km road between the Raikot Bridge and the Khunjerab mountain pass will be rebuilt. Eventually, the width of the highway will be expanded from the present 10 to 30 metres, enhancing its capacity to support transport three-fold.

Currently, large sections of the road, which was built in 1978 and passes through heights of 4,700 metres above sea level, have fallen into disrepair, making it of limited use for transportation.

Railway line under study

The decision to upgrade the highway was taken in February when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf visited Beijing.

China and Pakistan are also planning to link the Karakoram Highway to the southern Gwadar port in Balochistan through the Chinese-aided Gwadar-Dalbandin railway, which extends up to Rawalpindi. Islamabad and Beijing are further exploring the building of an energy pipeline from Gwadar to western China that would significantly reduce the time and distance for transporting oil to China from the Gulf region.

Gen. Musharraf recently announced his intention of transforming Pakistan into a trade and energy hub for China as well as the landlocked Central Asian countries. The upgradation of the highway is thus part of Pakistan's attempt to build an elaborate network of infrastructure that would provide China the shortest access to West Asia and other world markets through Pakistan's deep sea ports, including Gwadar.

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