and speaking of hit jobs China is at it

again mounting a new challenge to

India's sovereignty it began with the

cpec the china-pakistan economic

Corridor it goes through Pakistan

occupied Kashmir it's a clear violation

of India's sovereignty but China sees no

problem with it

in 2020 China announced a power project

in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and now it

is targeting oxide chin

China wants to build a railway line

through India's oxide chin

this is the region we're talking about

it's Indian Territory China illegally

occupied it during the 1962 war and now

it wants to consolidate its hold by

building a railway line it will connect

shinjang to Tibet

and it will cut through oxide chin as

always the Chinese paint this as a

civilian project but if you know

anything about Chinese projects you know

that they always serve more than one

purpose this one the railway line has a

distinct military purpose the pla the

people's Liberation Army can use it to

mobilize quickly especially along the

border with India and New Delhi has a

reason to be worried let me explain how

this works Tibet is at the center of

this plan China is building a massive

Railway Network here currently it is

1400 kilometers long the new plan is to

expand this to four thousand what for to

integrate remote areas to cut travel

time and of course to enable Swift

military mobilization the xinjiang Tibet

Railway line is part of the larger

project here is a proposed route it

begins in shigazi in Tibet the final

stop is hotan in shinjang

and here is the part that New Delhi

should worry about in particular the

planned route passes through two border

areas the pangong lake on the Chinese

side which is also the center of the

current standoff

and Ruto County again this is close to

the Lac the line of actual control

Reports say the pla has Frontier bases

here

so those were the two plant stops how

quickly can China build this the

construction plan has been split into

two phases phase one will be completed

by 2025 that's two years from now and

phase two will be finished by 2035.

when will the railway line reach oxide

chin 2025 that's what the Chinese media

claims they're calling it The shigaze

section

the part that would run through oxide

chain let me quote from a Chinese

mouthpiece this is what they say by 2025

the construction of several Railway

projects including the yarn ning Chi

section of the Sichuan Tibet Railway the

shigaze

section of the xinjiang Tibet Railway

and the bomi rauk section of the Yunnan

Tibet rail we will all see major

progress according to the plan

this is what they're saying major

progress that's for the exciting section

So the plan is to build quickly

and this should be problematic not just

for India but also Nepal because China

is targeting Nepal too the new Railway

routes will run up to China's borders

with Nepal under this plan girong will

get a railway Line This is a land port

it falls on the Nepal Tibet border so

expect the Chinese to show up there in

fact China has been rapidly expanding

its border infrastructure in 2021 Tibet

got its first bullet train it linked

lhasa to ning Chi that's near the Indian

state of arunachal Pradesh the railway

line is barely 16 kilometers from the

defect de facto border

why is that a reason to worry because

China claims the entire state of

arunachal Pradesh as its own territory

they call it South Tibet there is no

merit to China's claims but then again

Merit is the last thing that the Chinese

care about in 2021 Xi Jinping paid a

visit to Tibet it was the first visit by

a Chinese president in 30 years

do you know what he chose to highlight

there the bullet train project the

Chinese president even took a ride on

the bullet train the message was quite

clear China will continue to press with

its territorial claims and build

infrastructure to secure its hold

what is India's response New Delhi is

responding in kind ramping up its own

border infrastructure India's strategy

has two paths number one building in

frown the Indian side the focus is on

all states and union territories that

share a border with China the likes of

ladakh Himachal Pradesh uttarakhand

Sikkim and arunachal Pradesh India is

Keen on improving connectivity to remote

areas
more roads are being built in fact I

have some data from 2014 to 2022 India

launched a massive construction spree

over 6 000 kilometer long roads were

built

compare that to the previous years

between 2008 and 2014 India built just

over 3 000 kilometer long road so the

pace of construction

has doubled

that's part one of India's strategy part

two involves India's immediate

neighborhood I'm talking about countries

like Bangladesh Bhutan Nepal and Myanmar

India is investing heavily in these

countries it is funding connectivity

projects and dozens of them like railway

lines that connect

Nepal to Bangladesh

and the sithway port project it connects

Myanmar to India's mizoram how will

these Investments help China wants to

expand its influence in South Asia it

wants to build more ports and highways

this will pile debt on India's neighbors

and create security challenges for New

Delhi

so India is working overtime to

neutralize China's design and it won't

be easy
because we hope to match in a few years

what China has been doing for decades

while they're building or looking to

build a railway line through Tibet we

are still working on Mumbai Delhi

connectivity I know there's no

comparison but it tells you how India is

making up for deficits of the past while

trying to meet the challenges of the

future

meanwhile back in China they have a

visitor the president of Iran he is

there for a three-day visit starting

today his name is Ibrahim raisi with him

are his cabinet ministers ricey was

reportedly sent a personal invite by

Chinese president Xi Jinping he has a

host of meetings lined up including

talks with she and Chinese Business

delegations Report say Tehran hopes to

sign deals worth 10 billion dollars with

China what kind of deals Railways dams

power plants also on the agenda is the

Iran nuclear deal the one that the

Americans jumped under Donald Trump in

2018 Biden is trying to revive it but it

looks like a dead horse negotiations are

stalled which makes China's Outreach to

Iran all the more interesting and

significant Rice's visit

is the first by an Iranian president in

nearly two decades the first to China in

two decades the Iran attaches great

importance to it

from a political point of view president

Tracy's visit to China is of great

importance and special significance it

shows the relations between the two

countries continue to develop in a

favorable political environment the

visit will reflect the political will of

the leaders of the two countries on

issues such as expanding bilateral

relations and safeguarding common

interests shivarah has Ibraham Rice's

visit comes as China and Iran are

increasingly finding common ground not

quite natural allies but allies

nonetheless China has big Ambitions in

West Asia Tehran is a vital Cog in that

plan and it works for Iran too ricey has

a lot in his plate at the moment his

country's nuclear program is under

scrutiny it is at odds with the Arab

world and the economy is down in the

dumps

Iran desperately needs money from the

Chinese

remember the two countries signed a deal

in 2021 Iran and China 25 year long 400

billion dollar deal Beijing promised

more investments in Tehran across

sectors both Railways banking you name

it

all of this was in exchange for Iran's

oil so it's a win-win partnership except

for the tiny detail about China's money

coming with major strings and a

potential debt trap

but he has one more thing that works for

them they have a common enemy in the

United States in fact this has become a

major point of convergence a slew of U.S

sanctions have brought Iran and China

closer than ever before

in fact let me quote from what Ibrahim

raisy said ahead of his visit

Iran and China believe that

unilateralism and violent measures such

as the imposition of unjust sanctions

are the main source of a world fraught

with crises and insecurity both China

and Iran are unanimous in stressing that

all countries should work together to

achieve true multilateralism

International Justice and adjust

International order in the world

so what do the growing China Iran ties

mean for the world for the United States

and for countries like India that have

trade cultural and strategic ties with

Iran not to mention the chabahar port

they'll have to play very safely make

their moves carefully

because the at the moment China seems to

be the best bet for Iran China continues

to be Iran's largest trading partner as

per the last data available total trade

between the two sides stood at around 25

billion dollars

China also continues to buy oil from

Iran despite American sanctions the

exact figures are not known but reports

suggest it's been at record levels in

the past few months

remember Iran accounts for roughly 24

percent of the oil reserves in West Asia

and China needs this oil to drive its

economy around half of China's crude oil

imports are from West Asia

in 2021 Beijing imported nearly 81

million metric tons of crude oil from

the region so alignment with Iran is a

strategic decision

China is pushing to include Iran in the

brics grouping currently it has Brazil

Russia India China and South Africa that

is brics brics both Russia and China and

I want Iran to join

what does that mean for the U.S not good

news Chinese money flowing into Iran

means Tehran gets the revenue it wants

desperately it weakens the impact of

American sanctions and the U.S says this

money will fund Iran's nuclear program

but what's in it for Beijing more oil

for sure and more influence in the

region China has been working on it

which explains the China Arab Summit

last year Xi Jinping flew all the way to

Riyadh to meet with top leaders of the

Arab world together they vowed to

strengthen ties of course the Saudis are

on the other side of the power divide in

West Asia they're not friends with Iran

but China is working with them too

Reports say China signed 34 new

investment agreements worth 50 billion

dollars with Saudi Arabia

this also shows China's growing

footprint and America's waning influence

in the region as for India it has been

deepening its ties with its West Asian

Partners until recently Iran was a key

supplier of oil to India it supplied

around 10 percent of India's oil needs

that's before the American sanctions

came in India also invested around 85

million dollars in the div in developing

the first phase of the chabahar port and

the sport is very crucial it will give

India direct access to Central Asia it

will help India circumvent Pakistan the

chabahar port

now with China's entry India will have

to Be watchful

also ensure that this project chabahar

is completed on time

as for Tehran it wants to balance ties

Reports say it also offered a

china-style strategic deal to India last

year the deal focuses on attracting

Indian Investments it is reportedly

under consideration

it's a long story short Rice's visit to

China has wider implications this is

much more than a regular diplomatic

visit

it's about who holds a strategic Edge

over the other and what that means for

existing players

now let's talk about work life how's it

going for you three years into the

pandemic companies are calling their

staff back and we understand you might

be unhappy about the commute or about

the inability to attend meetings in

pajamas but returning to pre-pandemic

work Life One tied you on at a time has

become the reality businesses are doing

everything to lure people back to office

it's understandable that this shift

comes as a rude shock to so many

especially as return to pre-pandemic

work schedule seems like a lost cause

but this shift is a source of pure joy

to some

probably your bosses but mainly your

government why because this return to

work from office is Reviving the economy

cities are bustling with office workers

again at least a few days a week to

start with love it or hate it commuting

is good for the economy and local

businesses are seeing a throng of

customers

the cost of remote work goes much beyond

what meets the eye

think about how your expenditure reduced

while you're working from home

maybe you reduced meeting your work

friends for a drink or stopped grabbing

that coffee from your favorite joint

before work the lack of these simple

actions not only affects you directly

but also the economy remote work has

tangible economic costs case in point

New York one of the world's leading

Financial Centers the economic cost of

remote work is more pronounced here than

anywhere else in the U.S

it's in person work week has shrunk to

three days

people go to work to Office three days a

week Manhattan workers are spending 30

percent fewer days in office

and spending more than 12 billion

dollars less every year due to this

12 billion dollars less

how did it hit such a grand number let

me break it down for you an average

worker spends more than four thousand

five hundred dollars a year on simple

things like meals and shopping near

their offices four thousand five dollar

five hundred

per year this figure is for New York

other cities are not too far behind in

San Francisco an average office goer

spends about three thousand dollars in

Chicago two thousand three hundred

dollars

when you work from home you don't spend

this money or you spend less which means

missed sales for local businesses

and they are the drivers of the city's

economy

then you have the real estate market the

transit system you need less office

space you spend less on commute tax

revenue takes a hit this impacts the

government's income with less money how

will the government maintain

infrastructure Parks Subway schools all

other essential facilities how will they

keep your city safe and clean it's a

real head scratcher no wonder so many

are pushing for an end to remote work

but it's not going to happen overnight

this year only six percent of londoners

are expected to be in office five days a

week only six percent in Tokyo about 14

of job postings were for remote work in

2022 in 2019 this was just three percent

what about India in India about 46

percent of the organizations are pushing

employees to attend office full-time 46

32 percent are offering the hybrid model

moral of the story work from home may

not be working for your city the

economic cost is just becoming clearer

so maybe it's time to get back to your

office desk or think about it at the

very least embrace the banter gossip and

your managers bad jokes that come with

it think of this as your contribution to

the economy

let us know what you think write to us