New Delhi: In a second that will go down as a masterstroke in India’s strategic playbook, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6 unveiled the world’s tallest railway bridge – the Chenab Bridge – together with a sequence of infrastructure marvels in Jammu & Kashmir. Whereas hailed as engineering triumphs, these constructions conceal inside them a fierce geopolitical message – India is silently fortifying its Himalayan frontier, and Pakistan and China aren’t joyful.
At 359 metres tall, taller than the Eiffel Tower, the steel-arched Chenab Bridge is a part of the 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway hyperlink (USBRL) and connects the Kashmir Valley to the Indian rail grid for the primary time. However past the awe and applause, it’s the army and counter-terror implications which have despatched shockwaves throughout the border.
Why Pakistan, China Ought to Be Nervous
The bridge sits close to the treacherous Pir Panjal Vary, a mountainous area that has for many years acted as a gateway for Pakistani infiltrators, together with ISI-backed terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
From Poonch and Rajouri to the plush forests close to Pahalgam, this route has seen a number of the most infamous assaults in India’s historical past.
Now, with the Chenab and Anji bridges accomplished and the valley extra accessible to India’s armed forces year-round, this infiltration hall is on the snapping point.
“This isn’t only a bridge. It’s a steel-fisted message to our enemies,” stated a prime defence skilled, requesting anonymity.
The bridge doesn’t solely deter Pakistan. It tightens India’s grip over the Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh axis, essential to countering Chinese language aggression alongside the Line of Precise Management (LAC).
Troops, weapons and surveillance models can now transfer seamlessly – no extra seasonal delays or logistical gaps.
Hidden Checkmate
This “Chenab Chakravyuh” – as known as by army strategists – is a geo-strategic snare aside from being about connectivity. With 24/7 surveillance cameras, anti-corrosion applied sciences and blast-resistant supplies, the bridge is constructed to face up to earthquakes of 8.0 magnitude and even terrorist bombing makes an attempt.
“They tried to divide us by utilizing faith and terror. We’re responding with metal, resolve and railways,” stated a senior Indian Military official deployed within the area.
Constructed with inputs from Indian Institute of Know-how and the Defence Analysis, the Growth Organisation (DRDO) and international consultants, the Chenab Bridge makes use of high-tensile metal and superior cable-crane techniques.
It’s designed to final 120 years even underneath wind speeds of 260 kmph.
And with two Vande Bharat trains flagged off from Katra to Srinagar, civilian integration of the area is now irreversible.
What rattles Rawalpindi most is that that is blocking terrorists and rendering their long-game out of date. For years, Pakistan has exploited troublesome terrain and porous routes to gas unrest within the valley. That door simply slammed shut.
Even Pakistan Area Marshal Asim Munir should now deal with the truth that Pir Panjal now not favours infiltration, it favours India.