News Highlights
China has begun constructing a second bridge across the Pangong Tso that will be capable of accommodating heavy armoured vehicles, months after completing another bridge in the same region that is claimed by India.
Background
- Since the military standoff began in May 2020, India and China have worked to modernise existing infrastructure as well as construct new roads, bridges, and landing strips along the whole border.
- By the end of August 2020, India had outmanoeuvred China to gain possession of the Kailash Range on the south side of Pangong Tso which had previously been unoccupied.
- Indian troops took up positions on the peaks of Magar Hill, Gurung Hill, Rezang La, and Rechin La, giving them control of the vital Spanggur Gap — which could be exploited to launch an offensive, as China did in 1962 — as well as a view of the PLA garrison at Moldo.
- Indian troops had also positioned themselves above the Chinese troops in the Fingers area on the north bank. During this scramble for the heights, both sides fired shots, a first in nearly four decades.
- Both countries’ troops remained on these peaks during the cold winter months. The prominence of these locations was one of the key considerations that prompted China to negotiate a retreat.
- Both countries decided to leave the north bank of the lake as well as positions on the Kailash Range in the Chushul sub-sector south of the Pangong Tso.
About the Second Bridge?
- The bridge is being built over 20 kilometres from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
- “Larger bridge” was being developed in parallel with the first, adding the likely aim of construction was to allow for “larger/heavier movements”
Significance of Bridge Construction for China?
- The bridge will cut a 180-kilometre circle from Khurnak to the river’s south banks through Rudok, cutting the distance between Khurnak and Rudok from 200 kilometres to 40-50 kilometres.
- The construction of the bridge will enable it to mobilise its forces in this area more rapidly, in the hopes of averting a repeat of the August 2020 incident.
- Larger bridges also help them for “heavier and larger movements across the lake”.
Threat on Indian Interest
- Because the bridge is on their land, the Indian Army must factor this into its operational plans.
- Road widening, bridge construction, new bases, airstrips, advance landing sites, and other infrastructure developments are taking place in all three sectors of the India-China border, not just in eastern Ladakh (Eastern, Middle, and Western).
Pangong Tso
- Pangong Tso, also known as Pangong Lake, is an endorheic lake that stretches between eastern Ladakh and western Tibet.
- Pangong Tso, Tso Nyak, Rum Tso (twin lakes), and Nyak Tso are the names of the five sublakes.
- Around half of the lake’s length is in Tibet, 40% in Ladakh, and the rest is disputed and serves as a de facto buffer zone between India and China.
- Despite being salt water, the lake freezes entirely during the winter.
- It has a landlocked basin separated from the Indus River basin by a short elevated hill, yet it is thought to have once been a part of the latter.
- It is a ramsar site.
Why is Pangong Tso Significant ?
- However, it is in the way of the Chushul approach, one of China’s key offensive approaches into Indian territory.
- According to Indian estimates, if a big Chinese invasion occurs, it will spread across both the north and south sides of the lake.
Reasons of Dispute
- The Line of Actual Control (LAC) runs through the lake, but India and China disagree over where it is.
- When the Army unit from the region was relocated to Kargil for Operation Vijay in 1999, China took advantage of the chance to construct a 5-kilometre road along the lake’s edge inside Indian territory.
- Chinese fortifications on the northern tip of Pangong Lake physically overlook Indian positions from one of these roads.
- Currently, India controls a 45-kilometre stretch of the lake’s western shore, while China controls the rest.
- The majority of the battles between the two armies take place in the lake’s disputed area.
Fingers in the Lake
- The Chang Chenmo, a desolate mountain range on the lake’s northern side, juts forward in massive spurs that the Army refers to as “fingers.”
- India maintains that the LAC extends to Finger 8, but it only has physical control over the area up to Finger 4.
- Finger 8 has Chinese border posts, while Finger 2 is thought to be where the LAC crosses.
Other Disputed Regions in Ladakh
Pic Courtesy : Times Now
Content Source : Hindustan Times