Fan-type theorem for path-connectivity (Q2563518)

An \((x,y)\)-path in a graph \(G\) is a path with endvertices \(x\) and \(y\). Let \(d(x,y)\) denote the length of a shortest \((x,y)\)-path in \(G\). A graph \(G=(V,E)\) is \(k\)-path-connected if it contains an \((x,y)\)-path of length at least \(k\). Thus \(G\) is \((|V|-1)\)-path-connected if and only if it is hamiltonian-connected. In this paper, it is proved that if a 2-connected graph \(G=(V,E)\) satisfies \(\max\{d(x),d(y)\}\geq k\) whenever \(d(x,y)=2\), then \(G\) is \(k\)-path-connected.