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The Takshashila PLA Insight
Special Issue: Tibet
December 6, 2021
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Dear Readers,

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my recently published Discussion Document (Occasional Paper/Report) on Civilian and Military Developments in Tibet (and implications for India).
 
This paper traces China’s Tibet-specific civilian and military developments under General Secretary Xi Jinping.

The paper details:

- Changes to China’s civilian leadership

- Tibet’s road and railway network, and airports and airbases

- Details on China’s three major arteries connecting Tibet to the rest of the country - The “Snow Mountain Oil Dragon” (雪山油龙, xueshan you long) pipeline (new pipeline), The Lanzhou-Xining-Lhasa optical cable (兰州-西宁-拉萨” 光缆通信专线, Lanzhou-Xining-Lasa guanglan tongxin zhuanxian) and central power grid connection.

- Upcoming hydropower bases on the lower reaches of Yarlung Tsangpo.

PS: The Civilian section also has details on the railway network in Tibet  (The Hotan-Shigatse railway) which - in all possibility - could pass through the disputed Aksai Chin region. China is maintaining ambiguity on this. Please check the railway map and the dotted line tracing this railway in the document.   

- Central leadership’s push for the policy of developing “well-off villages in border areas” (边境地区小康村建设规划, bianjing diqu xiaokang cun jianshe guihua).

- Changes in the military leadership, key military installations and patterns in PLA’s exercises in Tibet and South Xinjiang.

- And finally, implications for India.

The document concludes with a brief assessment: These developments have made Tibet more stable internally than in the previous decade. There are ongoing issues on the border with India, but the recent military modernisation, the dual-use civilian infrastructure developments, and the ongoing PLA reforms aim to address the Indian threat – China’s secondary strategic direction.
 
Here’s the link to the document. I hope you enjoy reading this document.

Thank you, Take Care and Stay Safe.
 
Sincerely,
Suyash Desai.

 
This newsletter is written by Suyash Desai, an Associate Fellow, China Studies Programme, at the Takshashila Institution. 
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Suyash Desai · 2nd floor, 46/1, Cobalt Building, Church St, Haridevpur · Shanthala Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru · Bangalore, 560001 · India

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