Karakurum Yolu üzerinde yer alan Khunjerab Geçidi, Pakistan'ı Çin'e bağlamakla beraber aynı zamanda dünyanın en yüksek noktasında bulunan asfalt yol olma özelliğini de taşıyor. Yol, tehlikesiyle öyle ünlenmiş durumda ki; her yıl binlerce turisti ağırlıyor.
Ünlü İpek Yolu’nun bir bölümünü oluşturan ve yüzyıllardır kullanılan bir ticaret yolu olan Karakurum, dünyanın en yüksek irtifalı uluslararası asfalt yoludur. 1200 km uzunluğundaki bu yol Karakurum Dağları’ndan geçerek Pakistan’ın Abbottabad bölgesinden Çin’in Kaşgar bölgesine kadar uzanır. Bu yol dünyanın en güzel dağ manzaralarını barındırdığı gibi dağcılara ulaşılması güç yerlerde tırmanma olanağı da sağlar.
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The Karakoram Range lies on the northernmost borders of Pakistan and India, further extending into the western border of China. The range houses a huge concentration of peaks over 8,000 meters in height, including K2, the world’s second-highest peak. It consists of the Ladakh region of India, the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and it touches the Aksai Chin region occupied by China.
The post Second World War era, when India was partitioned and China saw a Communist takeover, brought the region into the limelight. Immediately after its inception, Pakistan occupied the Gilgit-Baltistan region. To find a solution to the conflict, then Prime Minister Nehru appealed to the UN, which facilitated the establishment of a ceasefire line in 1949. The ceasefire agreement gave a vague border demarcation in the high reaches of Karakoram, as it consisted of uninhabitable terrain. This ambiguity led to Operation Meghdoot by the Indian Army in 1984 to capture the Siachen glacier, which added another dimension to the Kashmir conflict. Since the northern borders of Siachen touch China, the glacier is the world’s only trilateral border junction of three nuclear powers.
In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a war in Kargil, which also lies in the Karakoram region. The Pakistani army occupied strategic peaks lying in Indian territory overlooking the Leh-Srinagar highway. The control over these peaks threatened to disconnect the Ladakh region from rest of Kashmir. In the end, the Indian Army was successful in recapturing these peaks.
With regard to China, the dispute started in Eastern Karakoram over the conflicting demarcation of the Aksai Chin region which led to the Sino-Indian war of 1962, following which China occupied Aksai Chin. The Aksai Chin contains the ‘western highway’ which links Xinjiang to Tibet and hence is supreme to China’s strategic interests.
