Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his inaugural visit to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Friday, following a recent conflict with arch-rival Pakistan. During his visit, he inaugurated a strategically important railway line for the contested region. Modi launched a series of projects worth billions of dollars for the occupied Muslim-majority territory, a focal point of intense rivalry between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan engaged in a four-day conflict last month, their most severe standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was mutually agreed upon on May 10. “Friends, today’s event is a grand festival of India’s unity and firm resolve,” Modi declared after ceremoniously walking across the towering bridge to formally open it for rail traffic. Referring to the Chenab Bridge, which connects two mountains, he stated, “This is a symbol and celebration of rising India.”
New Delhi boasts that the Chenab span is the “world’s highest railway arch bridge,” soaring 359 meters (1,117 feet) above a river. While several road and pipeline bridges are indeed higher, Guinness World Records has confirmed that the Chenab bridge surpasses the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.
‘Our Grievances’
Modi hailed the bridge as “an extraordinary feat of architecture” that “will improve connectivity” by providing the first rail link from the Indian plains up to the mountainous IIOJK. Comprising 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway spans 272 kilometers (169 miles), connecting Udhampur, Srinagar, and Baramulla. This new route is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in IIOJK, reducing it to approximately three hours.
The newly established railway will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, a process previously only possible via treacherous mountain roads and by air.
Around 150 individuals protested against the project on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). “We want to tell India that building bridges and laying roads in the name of development will not make the people of Kashmir give up their demand for freedom,” stated Azir Ahmad Ghazali, who organized the rally attended by Kashmiris. He added, “In clear and unequivocal terms, we want to say to the Indian government that the people of Kashmir have never accepted India’s forced rule.”
