India and China have unsettled borders, and the perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) differs in multiple sectors, including on Pangong Tso.
Description of Pangong Tso Lake.
The name Pangong Tso reflects the mixed heritage of the lake: Pangong in Ladakhi means extensive concavity and the word Tso is Tibetan for lake. Pangong Tso is an landlocked lake that is partly in Ladakh region and partly in China (Tibet). The lake is situated at an elevation of about 4,270 m, it is a nearly 135-km long, narrow lake — 6 km at its widest point — and shaped liked a boomerang. Its total area is over 600 sq km. This lake became popular by the Hindi film 3 Idiots.
The Karakoram Mountain range, which crosses Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and India, with heights of over 6,000 meters including K2, the world’s second highest peak, ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso. Its southern bank too has high broken mountains sloping towards Spangur Lake in the south. The lake’s water is crystal clear but brackish, making it undrinkable. The lake freezes during the winter, allowing some vehicular movement on it as well.
Who controls Pangong Tso?
Nearly two-thirds of the lake is controlled by China, with just about 45 km under Indian control. The LAC, running north-south, cuts the western part of the lake, aligned east-west. But India and China have unsettled borders, and the perception of the LAC differs in multiple sectors, including on Pangong Tso. At the lake’s north bank, according to India, the international boundary is close to Khurnak Fort, a 19th-century ruin. But the LAC, according to India, is around 15 km west. On the north bank are spurs that jut into the lake, identified as fingers. India says the LAC passes through Finger 8; China claims it is farther west. Compared to the north bank, the difference in perception of the LAC is not very wide in the south bank and may differ by 100 to 200 m.
What is the current status of Pangong Tso?
The north bank was one of the two points in eastern Ladakh that saw friction in early May that led to the standoff that is now nearly four months old. On the night of May 5-6, troops were involved in violent hand-to-hand fights, though Chinese soldiers were armed with rods and nail-studded batons. However, these violent face-offs did not result in any fatalities, unlike the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley on May 5-6 in which India lost 20 soldiers and an undeclared number of Chinese troops were also killed.
Since then China changed the status quo and its troops had occupied the region between Finger 8 and Finger 4, which was patrolled by both but occupied by neither side earlier. Chinese troops continue to occupy the Finger 4 ridgeline, though they have stepped back from the base of Finger 4 to the base of Finger 5. But China has fortified its positions in the area.
The slight rearward movement was part of the initial disengagement process after the June 15 clashes. However, there has not been any improvement in the situation since mid-July and the talks are stuck in a stalemate.
How are the two banks different?
The south bank is in proximity to important areas like Chushul and Rezang La and has been held strongly by India as compared to the North Bank. Consequently the South Bank has been quiet since Chinese intrusions in he North bank came into the limelight due to clashes between patrolling units.
Latest Chinese Move in the South bank
On the night of August 30, the Indian Army thwarted an attempt by China to change the status quo near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by deploying its troops to a previously un-deployed area on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh. The Chinese troops had violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.
While the Pangong Lake has strategic importance for both India and China and has been among the most contentious sectors in the ongoing military standoff in eastern Ladakh for nearly four months now. It is now only that the activity has spilled over to the South bank.