One railroad serves all (Purposes): Geopolitical analysis of the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad

by Ms. S. Swathi Meenakshi*
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He who holds Tibet dominates the Himalayan piedmont; he who dominates the Himalayan piedmont threatens the Indian subcontinent and he who threatens the Indian subcontinent may well have all of South Asia within his reach, and with it all of Asia.

~ George Ginsburgs and Michael Mathos[i]

Relations between India and China have traditionally been tenuous. Earlier, the mountainous terrain of the Himalayan ranges, Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal acted as buffer areas to ease tension between the two Asian giants. But, recent infrastructure developments along the border raise questions of concern. China’s build up holds important security implications for India and adds heat to age old territorial claims. Given this background, of particular significance is the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line. This railroad symbolizes China’s sovereignty over Tibet while establishing its technological prowess in building the highest railroad in the world[ii]. The railroad will gain ever more strategic significance as it connects hitherto inaccessible parts of the Tibetan plateau with the ‘Chinese motherland’. This paper tries to examine the geopolitical[iii] implications of such developments.

Degradation of Frozen Earth Layers and Release of Green House Gases on the Tibetan Plateau

The presence or absence of the permafrost layer necessitates major variations in the soil’s physical structure mainly its moisture and nutrient content. The permafrost covers approximately 1.3 to 1.6 million sq. km. These covers have thickness ranging from 1 to 130 m, depending on such local characteristics as slope and exposure, altitude, geological structure, soils, and soil water content.

The permafrost and ground ice in Tibet. Image copyright EDD (CTA)

The alpine permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau stores about 12,300 million tons of Carbon. Significant amount of methane gas are also trapped in the permafrost, preventing its release into the atmosphere. The alpine permafrost on the Plateau are characterized by warm permafrost and rich ground ice, as a result they are sensitive to climate change and are particularly vulnerable to rising temperature.

The Significance of the Third Pole: The Tibetan Plateau

A satellite's-eye-view of the Tibetan Plateau. Image from NASA's Terra satellite. Photo credit- NASA

Tibetan Plateau referred to as ‘The Third Pole’ and ‘The Water Tower of Asia’ reflects the significance of its snow capped mountains and its alpine grasslands. Since time immemorial, the plateau holds the Hindu Kush Himalayan Ice Sheet, considered as the largest ice mass outside the two poles. Its plateau contains more than 45,000 glaciers covering an area of 105,000 km2. Encompassing an area of about 2.5 million square kilometers, or about one-third the area of the continental United States, the Tibetan Plateau is the largest and highest region on Earth. With an average elevation of 4,500 meters above sea level, the Tibetan Plateau stretches for almost 3,000 kilometers from west to east and 1,500 kilometers from south to north. The Plateau is ringed by high mountains – the Himalayas to the south, the Karakorum in the west and the Kunlun across the north. One can just learn by looking at its map to figure out how the Tibetan Plateau dominates the geography of Asia.