Srinagar, India, January 13, 2025 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the strategic Z-Morh (Sonmarg) road tunnel on January 13, pushing for all-weather access towards contested high-altitude border zones with China and Pakistan. The 6.4km tunnel, stretching beneath a treacherous mountain pass often cut off by snow for four to six months a year, is part of a broader infrastructure initiative in border areas.
The tunnel connects Indian-administered Kashmir with Ladakh, facilitating the opening of the Srinagar-Leh Highway year-round, allowing rapid deployment of military supplies. “With the opening of the tunnel here, connectivity will significantly improve,” Mr. Modi said, wrapped in a jacket against the freezing cold after cutting the ribbon on the US$313 million (S$430 million) project, which took a decade to complete.
India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are fierce rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia, and their 3,500km shared frontier has long been a source of tension. Troops from both sides clashed in 2020, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, and they continue to face off across disputed high-altitude borderlands.
In October 2024, Beijing and New Delhi agreed on patrols in disputed areas shortly before a rare formal meeting – the first in five years – between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mr. Modi. Another tunnel on the same route, the 13km-long Zojila tunnel, is over halfway completed and expected to open in 2026, according to the information ministry.
The Z-Morh tunnel was the site of an attack in October 2024, in which gunmen killed seven workers, part of the decades-long insurgency in disputed Kashmir. The Muslim-majority region has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, with both countries claiming the Himalayan territory in full. Rebel groups demand independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.
India has also constructed a US$3.9 billion railway line connecting the lowland plains with Kashmir for the first time, including the construction of the Chenab Rail Bridge, the highest of its kind in the world. The 272km railway begins in the garrison city of Udhampur, headquarters of the army’s northern command, and runs through the region’s capital, Srinagar.