PANGONG
TSO LAKE - GEOGRAPHY
News: India deploys new docks, upgrades speedboats for Pangong Tso patrol
What's
in the news?
●
The Army has deployed new landing docks
and speed boats for patrolling on the Pangong
Tso Lake in Eastern Ladakh matching the Chinese deployments on the lake
located close to 14,000 feet.
● This is part of an overall capability enhancement and infrastructure development taken up by India since the 2020 standoff in Eastern Ladakh to plug deficiencies and catch up with Chinese build up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Key
takeaways:
Pangong
Tso Lake:
●
Pangong Tso has been an area of constant
friction between India and China for a long time.
●
It is a Tibetan name for ‘high grassland lake’
●
It is also called Pangong Lake.
●
It is a long narrow, deep, endorheic
(landlocked) lake situated at a height of about 4,350 m.
○
Endorheic
lake: An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or
terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink,
with no evident outlet.
● India holds one third of the 135 km-long boomerang shaped lake.
Conflicting
Fingers:
●
The lake, a glacial melt, has mountain
spurs of the Chang Chenmo range jetting down referred to as ‘fingers’ and the brackish water lake freezes in winter.
●
India
has always held till Finger 4 while it claims till Finger 8,
which is where the Indian perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) lies,
as reiterated by India on several occasions.
●
The North bank, which has a much higher
difference in perception of LAC than the South bank, has been the initial site
of the clash in May 2020, the beginning of the long winding standoff.
●
Indian Army has a permanent position near
Finger 3. The Chinese have a base east of Finger 8.
●
Both sides also patrol the water on speed
boats which also results in faceoffs.
●
Prior to the 2020 standoff, the face offs
were usually resolved as per the protocols agreed for maintaining peace and
tranquillity on the border.