INDIA-PAKISTAN-CHINA-Karakoram Highway

Karakoram Highway Mohan Ram INDIA'S low-key reaction to the opening of the 800-kilometre Karakoram highway linking Pakistan and China through Pakistan-held Kashmir area (there has been only a formal protest, just for the record) should dismay those in New Delhi who expound the semi-official theory of a link between the overthrow of the Daoud regime in Afghanistan and the inauguration of the silk route. The Karakoram highway took nearly 20 years to build and the opening has implications for India-Pakistan and India-China relations. India had protested about it last in 1969. But last month when it became known that the highway would be formally inaugurated with some fanfare, India apparently decided merely to lodge a formal protest just for record.