Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-27
HIGHWAY
Confined Prom PAGE A


II stiIl resembles q dotted line
winding through low-elevation |
valleys (2,000 to 4,000-ft. in !
altitude) from Kathmandu to |
the border. To speed up con-
struction, 10000 more Nepah |
coolies are being hired after |
the close Of important annual
festivities celebrating the Hin
du NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Goddess.
Kali.
Besides blasting a two-mile |
traverse along a windswept |
rockface near the border, the
Chinese engineers in four
months have already built
three five-kilometer stretches
Of almost disable road.
Building Wooden Bridges
A workshop to build wooden
bridges Is now being set up in
Panchkhal Valley. The Chinese
hope to have q disable road over
temporary wooden bridges fin
ished by October, 1864. and the
final road built with four ma
jor steel bridges Ito replace
present suspension cableways) :,
So lesser bridges and nearly
100 culverts by the following
year. United States officials in
Nepal call this schedule too
ambitious. but the Indians built
a l12-mile road through SINH
lar terrain in neighboring Blu
ton in only II months.
When completed. the Kath-
mandu-Kodari road viii link
I'D not only with Lhasa but
also with a recently completed
highway running the length OF
the Tibet -Nepal-Indian border
through Tibet's Bramaputra
River valley about so miles
north Of the Himalayan range.
Chinese Invasion Roads
Any doubts concernin g
China's eventual intentions to
take over Nepal would seem to
be dispelled by the current con-
struction Of four military feed
err roads leading from the
Bramaputra highway down to
Nepal's northern border.
The first road goes from
Taklakar in Tibet to Nepal's /
Western border with India. 1t
will be met by q road the In !
dian Army is pushing up along ,
the Kali River Of Uttar Pradesh
New Delhi lies just over 200
miles south of Tibet at this
point. Il
A second connects the Chi
nese Army garrison at Dongbo
to Mustang in Nepal, an area
used by 5000 Tibetan Khampa
refugees to stage guerrilla raids
into Tibet.
The third goes from another
army base at Girong Dong.
where the Chinese have an air.
field, to Nepals low Rasua
Gahr Pass (about 5000 feet)
used by the Chinese to invade
Nepal in 1892.
The fourth comes down to-
Eastern Nepals Walungjung
Kola valley where Chinese
agents have been successful in
winning over many Of the Linn
bu tribals. who resent King
Mahendra's attempts to rule
them from Kathmandu.
Running down TO Natu La
through the Chumbi Valley
above the nearby kingdom Of
Sikkim is q fifth feeder
road. Chinese troops pouring
through Sikkim would have to
advance only 80 miles to cut
off Assam, Bhutan and the
Northeast Frontier Agency
from the rest Of India.
Nepalis Unconcerned
Nepan reaction to what may
be invasion routes into their
country has been one Of fatal
istic unconcern. When asked
how he felt about the danger,
the usually retiring King Ma
hendra snapped, you don't
import communism in a taxi
cab"
This nonchalant attitude is
echoed by top United States |
officials in Kathmandu who
blandly assert the road viii |
take years and years to
build" and who view it as the
inevitable symbol Of Nepals
independence from the Indians.
$50 far no United States EN-
bassy has visited the road.
Nepal's friendship with Pc
king, like that of Pakistan's,
stems from resentment over
midas attempt to continue to
run its affairs, a resentment
also fed by the Supercilious be-
havior of Indian officials in
Nepal.
Although former United
States Ambassador to India
John Kenneth Galbraith said
last month he felt Nepal was
the most dangerously threat
ened" Of all the states border
ing China, including India,
United States officials in
Kathmandu itself tend to
shrug off the roads military
petential. They argue that q
brigade Of Chinese paratroop-
erS dropped into Kathmandu
could take over the country
within hours anyway.
Defense Pact With India
The Nepalis themselves point
out that India is committed to
defend Nepal and that Prime
Minister Nehru has pledged
responsibility for the king
dom's security.
How much responsibility is
arguable. Since the Indian
army's crushing defeats in the
high Himalayas last year its
general staff, seconded by
United States military advisers,
favors repulsing any future
Chinese attacks only in the