while on one hand India and China are looked in a border standoff along the Line of Actual Control, Chinese President Xi Jinping meanwhile instructed officials to expedite the construction of the new USD 47.8 billion railway project connecting the country's southwest Sichuan province to Linzhi in Tibet. The area is close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.

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According to Chinese government media, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is the second railway line after the Chinghai-Tibet railway project. It will pass through the southeast of the Chinghai-Tibet plateau.

Starting from the capital of Sichuan Province Chengdu, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway then enters Tibet via Yan and Kamdo and reduces the distance between Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to less than 13 hours.

According to the official 'Global Times' report, the Yan-Linjhi road is 1011 kilometers long, with 26 stations. Trains on this route run at a speed of 120 to 200 kilometers per hour. The entire Sichuan-Tibet rail project costs $ 47.8 billion.

Prior to the construction of the project, Xi described it in a video conference as an important part of the Communist Party's plan in the administration of Tibet in the new era, and the project's important role in protecting national unity, promoting ethnic solidarity and strengthening stability in the border areas.

The development has come at the time when the two sides are already engaged in border standoff in Ladakh along LAC. Earlier this week, both the sides held the eighth round of Corps Commander talks in Chushul to discuss military disengagement process.

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"The two sides are likely to disengage from some of the friction points in the next few days and they have been discussing the modalities for doing so in a phased manner," defense sources said.

In the talks, both sides agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, ensure their frontline troops to exercise restraint, and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation.