NEW YORK: In a quiet move, China has deployed about 11,000 troops in the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in the occupied Kashmir to take de-facto control of the key area, where a rebellion is simmering against the Pakistani rule.
The New York Times said that there were two important new developments in Gilgit-Baltistan; a simmering rebellion against the Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the area, which is closed to the world.
"China wants a grip on the strategic area to assure unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan", the paper said, and for this purpose is building high-speed rail and road link.
The link up would enable Beijing to transport cargo and oil tankers from eastern China to the new Chinese built Pakistani Naval base at Gawadar, Pasni and Ormara in Balochistan, just east of the Gulf in 48 hours.
"Many of the PLA soldiers entering Gilgit-Baltistan are expected to work on the railroad. Some are extending the Karakoram Highway, built to link China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan. Others are working on dams, expressways and other project," the paper said.
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