Himalayan | Pakistan

Indian engineers broke through the final rock section in the strategic Zojila tunnel through a Himalayan mountain on Tuesday, a milestone in providing all-weather access to the frontier Ladakh region with China. India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia. Ties have thawed since a 2020 border clash, but their 3,500-kilometre frontier has been a perennial source of tension. The tunnel forms part of a broader infrastructure push, creating a link with roads and railways that will allow trade, troops and supplies to move year-round from India’s sweltering lowland plains to the soaring icy border zones. People ride a car through the Zojila tunnel, India’s longest road tunnel project connecting Jammu and Kashmir with the Ladakh region, in Minamarg on June 9, 2026. —AFP “This is not just a tunnel but a lifeline,” said India’s minister of roads, Nitin Gadkari, during a breakthrough ceremony on Tuesday at the high-altitude tunnel, which...

The Indian army brought in sniffer dogs, drones and heavy earth-moving equipment on Wednesday to search for scores missing a day after a deadly Himalayan flash flood. At least four people were killed and around 100 are unaccounted for — including 11 soldiers — after a wall of muddy water and debris tore down a narrow mountain valley, smashing into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state. “Additional army columns, along with army tracker dogs, drones, logistic drones, earthmoving equipment etc, have been moved… to hasten the efforts”, the army said today. Military helicopters were working to bring in “essential supplies, medicines and (for the) evacuation of the marooned”, it added. Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the flood was caused by an intense “cloudburst” of rain, and that rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”. Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region on Tuesday aftern...