Pangong lake in Ladakh

Subject – Geography / IR

Context – China constructing bridge on Pangong Lake in Ladakh

Concept –

China is constructing a bridge in eastern Ladakh connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Tso (lake), which will significantly bring down the time for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to move troops and equipment between the two sectors.
On the north bank, there is a PLA garrison at Kurnak fort and on the south bank at Moldo, and the distance between the two is around 200 km. The new bridge between the closest points on two banks, which is around 500 m, will bring down the movement time between the two sectors from around 12 hours to three or four hours.
- The construction had been going on for some time and it would reduce the overall distance by 140¬150 km.
The bridge is located around 25 km ahead of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Earlier, the PLA had to take a roundabout crossing the Rudok county. But now the bridge would provide a direct axis.
The bridge is in China’s territory and the Indian Army would have to now factor this in its operational plans.
The north bank, which has much higher differences in perception of the LAC than the south bank, was the initial site of the clashes in early May 2020, while tensions on the south bank flared up later in August.
The Indian Army got tactical advantage over the PLA on the south bank in August-end by occupying several peaks lying vacant since 1962, gaining a dominating view of the Moldo area.
On the north bank too, the Indian troops set up posts facing PLA positions on the ridge-lines of Finger 4.

About Pangong Tso Lake

It is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet.
Approximately 50% of the length of the overall lake lies within Tibet China, 40% in Ladakh India and the rest is disputed and is a de-facto buffer zone between India and China.
The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point.
India holds one-third of the 135-km-long boomerang-shaped lake located at an altitude of over 14,000 feet.
The lake, a glacial melt, has mountain spurs of the Chang Chenmo range jutting down, referred to as
During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
- The lake’s water, while crystal clear, is brackish, making it undrinkable.
It has a land-locked basin separated from the Indus River basin by a small elevated ridge, but is believed to have been part of the latter in prehistoric times.
It is 134 km (83 mi) long and divided into five sublakes, called Pangong Tso, Tso Nyak, Rum Tso (twin lakes) and Nyak Tso.

The Karakoram Mountain range, which crosses Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and India, with heights of over 6,000 metres 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.

Fingers in the lake

The barren mountains on the lake’s northern bank, called the Chang Chenmo, jut forward in major spurs, which the Army calls “fingers”.
India claims that the LAC is coterminous with Finger 8, but it physically controls area only up to Finger 4.
Chinese border posts are at Finger 8, while it believes that the LAC passes through Finger 2.

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.