Army passes intel to Govt: PLA men at pass linking PoK to China

The Army has received confirmation that China deployed an infantry battalion of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at the 15,397-feet Khunjerab Pass on the Karakoram highway this month for the security of its workers engaged in building a railroad. This railroad will eventually connect Xinjiang to the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan.



The Khunjerab Pass straddles the border between China and PoK and is 272 km from Gilgit in the Northern Areas. This PLA deployment is expected to be raised to brigade strength (3,000 troops) as work on the railroad progresses in the Northern Areas.



Writing in The New York Times — the article was carried by The Indian Express — Selig S Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy, reported that 7,000-11,000 PLA troops are already in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.



The Indian Army brass has taken note of the deployment of 1,000 troops at Khunjerab Pass but is not unduly alarmed about the build-up.
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