India, China ramp up infra on north bank of Pangong lake

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated04/07/2023

Three years after the violent clash between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan followed by tanks facing each other around the Pangong Tso, there is hectic activity in the area from both sides.
China is rushing to complete a bridge across the Pangong Tso, connecting the north and south banks
India is also building a black-topped road on its side on the north bank.
These are among a number of infrastructure developments initiated on both sides since the standoff, permanently altering the status quo on the ground in eastern Ladakh
The two sides await the 19th round of Corps Commander level talks to find a resolution to their dispute in the region.

Pangong Tso literally translates into a “conclave lake”
It is formed from Tethys geosyncline.
The Karakoram Mountain range including K2 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, while crystal clear, is brackish

The Line of Actual Control (LAC), the line that separates Indian and Chinese troops since 1962 generally runs along the land except for the width of Pangong Tso.
Here, it runs through water.
Both sides have marked their areas announcing which side belongs to which country.
India controls about a 45 km stretch of the Pangong Tso and China the rest.
The lake has mountain spurs of the Chang Chenmo range jutting down, referred to as fingers.
India and China have different understanding of where the LAC passes through.
- India has maintained that the LAC passes through Finger 8
- But Indian forces have not had active control beyond Finger 4.
- China, on the other hand, says the LAC passes through Finger 2.
- It has been patrolling up to Finger 4- mostly in light vehicles, and at times up to Finger 2.

Construction of black-topped road towards Finger 4 is going on and is expected to be completed by 2025.
There is major impetus on infrastructure, road networks, advanced landing grounds and so on This was also confirmed by another official source.
Construction work is at an advanced stage on the alternate axis to the critical Darbuk-Skyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road through the Saser La

The work is underway on the main bridge, while the secondary bridge has been completed. Work on road connectivity along the south bank towards Shandong village is under progress
Recently, large scale construction activity, along with construction materials, was observed on the north bank.
A Chinese air defence site is also located east of the Khurnak fort.
A 22 km-long tunnel is under construction along the G-0177 expressway at Yuli, connecting to the very important G-216 highway in Tibet.

The budgetary allocation for the Border Roads Organisation has increased sharply over the last few years, much of which has been spent on the India-China Border Roads (ICBR) plan.
The BRO is close to finishing some key infrastructure projects in the eastern sector such as the Sela, Nechipu, and Sela-Chhabria tunnels, improving all-weather connectivity along the LAC.