China raising new units near borders

China raising new units near borders

Subject : Geography / IR

Context :China is raising new militia units comprising local Tibetan youth for high-altitude warfare near Eastern Ladakh, as well as near its borders with Sikkim and Bhutan, intelligence intercepts have revealed.

Concept :

• Available information indicates that the units are also being deployed at Rutog in Tibet, near the Pangong Tso (lake) in eastern Ladakh.

About Pangong Tso

• Pangong Tso is a long narrow, deep, landlocked lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft in the Ladakh, Himalayas.
• The 135 km-long lake sprawls over 604 sq km in the shape of a boomerang, and is 6 km wide at its broadest point.
• It is formed from Tethys geosyncline.
• The western end of Pangong Tso lies 54 km to the southeast of Leh.
• The brackish water lake freezes over in winter, and becomes ideal for ice skating and polo.