The great game's new players

In the East, a large number of Chinese troops have entered Pakistani-held territory high in the mountain fastness of the Kashmir Karakorams, in the picturesque Gilgit-Baltistan region, not far from the glacial battlefield of Siachen, where India and Pakistan confront each other.

Senge Hasan Sering, from Skardu, the director of the Gilgit-Baltistan National Congress, believes that the number of Chinese People's Liberation Army troops now present "could be over 11,000," as there are also additional "PLA construction corps personnel" deployed. It is here that China is currently investing "billions of dollars in mega projects like expressways, tunnels, and oil and gas pipelines." This, Sering says, is "surely not on account of any overflowing altruism."