NEW DELHI, April 23 -- One of the most treacherous and strategically vital road routes in the Himalayas has been completed, providing the military with an all-weather road access to north-eastern Ladakh.
The area had seen skirmishes during the 1962 India-China conflict and also recent standoffs like those in 2013 and 2014 around Depsang.
The 255-km Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DS-DBO) section of the road between Leh and Karakoram Pass has been completed, sources said. Some 37 bridges have been built across various snow-fed rivers.
On April 20, the first-ever vehicle expedition comprising motorcycles completed its run from Leh to Karakoram Pass and back (around 1,000 km). The road from Darbuk onwards runs at an altitude of 14,000 feet ...