Indian Army consolidates its position further, occupies more heights around Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh

The Indian Army has occupied heights that allow it to dominate the Moldo Garrison and the Spangur Gap under Chinese control. Both India and China had earlier claimed some of these heights. “Dominating the Spangur gap from heights is very crucial. We have also occupied some heights near finger 4,” said an official.

NEW DELHI: Pre-empting China’s suspicious activities near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the days to come, the Indian Army has further consolidated its position and occupied more heights on the north bank of Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, sources said on Thursday.

According to sources, the Indian Army now has a tactical advantage on both the north and south banks of Pangong Tso which overlook Chinese positions on the ridgelines in the Finger 4 area.  Even though the Chinese troops continue to sit atop the Finger 4 ridgeline, the Indian Army has taken over other heights to put pressure on the PLA, according to Army sources.

This is likely to help India in future negotiations as China is not willing to pull back from the Finger 4 mountain tops earlier. This has resulted in the disengagement process between the two countries coming to a halt. On the south side of the lake, which has become the new friction point, the Indian Army seems to be in an advantageous position.

With the Indian Army taking control of heights around the Finger 4 area, China has started building up its forces on the north bank of the Pangong Tso and is trying to come closer to the Indian position near the ridgeline.The Indian Army has occupied heights that allow it to dominate the Moldo Garrison and the Spangur Gap under Chinese control. Both India and China had earlier claimed some of these heights.

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One of the most critical heights the Indian Army is manning is the Rechin La, following which the Chinese Army had strongly protested. At present, the Indian Army enjoys a vantage point, not just to monitor Chinese military bases on the south bank of the Pangong Lake, but also keep an eye on the Finger 4 area on the north of the lake.

It may be noted that the mountain spurs jutting out into the lake at more than 14,000 feet are referred to as fingers.

Now that the whole Pangong Tso Lake region in the Ladakh is on edge, it is expected that the Chinese troops will try to regain lost ground on the south of the lake where India had in a pre-emptive move occupied two dozen strategic heights.

However, what has fuelled tension is the fact that now all the action in the Pangong Tso area is being controlled directly by commanders in Beijing and it’s no longer in the hands of local PLA officers.

In order to put more pressure on India, China has moved its 15-20 tanks closer to Spanggur Gap, a mountain pass on the LAC, between China and India. The Indian Army too has responded by deploying its battle tanks. In its Moldo Garrison area, China has now deployed around 5,000-7,000 soldiers while India has also deployed an equal number of its soldiers there.

In view of threats from the Chinese troops, the Indian Army has built defences and put barbed wire around its positions. It has warned the Chinese that crossing these wires will attract strong reactions from the Indian Army.

On Monday night the Chinese Army tried to remove the barbed wire but were warned to go back. Chinese troops then fired in the air to intimidate Indian soldiers. PLA troops were carrying what looked like traditional Guandao weapons (a single-edge sword-like blade on the end of a pole) and had automatic rifles. 

In May, the Chinese Army had crossed the LAC on the north bank of Pangong Tso and occupied 8 km between Finger 4 and Finger 8 areas. In all diplomatic and military talks between the two countries since China has bluntly refused to vacate the occupied area.

The Finger Area refers to a set of eight cliffs jutting out of the Sirijap range overlooking Pangong lake (Tso). Before the PLA grabbed positions on Finger 4 overlooking Indian deployments, the Army would patrol right up to Finger 8 that New Delhi considers within Indian territory.