Pangkok Lake situated in Ladakh has been making news since last two years for different reasons. Akanksha reports
A satellite imagery expert took few pictures of under construction bridge across Pangong in area of Eastern Ladakh which is reportedly occupied illegally by China around 60 years ago.Â
Ministry of External Affairs described it as a ridiculous exercise to support untenable territorial. India came down strongly on China for building this bridge. “Regarding reports of a bridge being made by the Chinese side on Pangong Lake, the government has been monitoring this activity closely. This bridge is being constructed in areas that have been under illegal occupation by China for around 60 years now,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
The bridge is being built across a part of the lake that falls within Chinese territory, but it connects both banks and gives China the ability to move soldiers and heavy weaponry into India at pace.
Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh has usually been in the news from last 2 years of India China dispute.
Brief Synthesis of Pangong Lake
Pangong Tso is one the most famous lake in Ladakh. Pangong is Tibetan word which means high grassland. Situated at a height of a more than 14,000 ft in Ladakh in Himalayas, this lake is narrow and deep.
The western end of Tso lies 54 km to the southeast of Leh. 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.
Since many years ,Chinese have built roads along with the banks of Pangong. In 1999, during Kargil war, China took the opportunity to build 5 km of road inside Indian territory along the lake’s bank. The 1999 road added to the extensive network of roads built by the Chinese in the area, which connect with each other and to Karakoram Highway.
From one of these roads, Chinese positions physically overlook Indian positions on the northern tip of the Pangong Tso lake.