Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that China continues to illegally occupy approximately 38,000 square kilometre of land in Ladakh and also claims 90,000 sq kms of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

Speaking on the five-month long India–China Border tensions, Mr Singh said, “The border issue is a complex one and needs to be resolved patiently. Both the countries believe that and there is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC). The People’s Liberation Army (Chinese Army) has made deliberate planning and preparations, quite unlike the past, which were random and sporadic."

Chinese have come in many sectors and sub sectors, with bigger strength and have carried heavier weapons, equipment and larger logistics support. The ‘Psychological and Information War’ is on at full swing.

There are several friction areas in Eastern Ladakh including Ghogra, Kongka La and North and South Banks of the Pangong Lake. But the focus has now shifted to an area called Depsang Plains that are located in the Sub Sector North (SSN) where the Daulat Beg Oldie— a strategic military base — is situated.

Depsang Plains: Farthest north corner of India

The face-off at Galwan valley, Ghogra/Hot Springs, Pangong Tso finger area and the latest Indian operations in Kailash range in Pangong Tso south has been adequately talked about and discussed in the media.

Not much has been discussed about the Depsang plains in the Sub Sector North (SSN), closer to Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), possibly as Chinese have not built any permanent fortifications.

Depsang Plain is a cold desert at an altitude of around 5,500 m, without any flora and fauna. This place has no habitation whatsoever. It is located in the farthest north corner of India and similarly the south western most corner of China nearly 9,000 km away from Beijing.

This area has military significance because of its proximity to the DBO Air field, Karakoram Pass and the the Road Darbuk – Shyok – DBO that runs alongside the LAC.

The terrain lends itself to mechanised warfare due to the absence of tough hill features and comparatively undulating terrain and rolling countryside. Providing logistics for any operations, would however, be a nightmare for any Armed Forces.

For the Chinese side it is soft underbelly, where mechanised forces can be used and they are sensitive to connectivity between Xinjian and Tibet, which is not very far away and threat to Aksai Chin in future time.

During the 1962 war, India had a small detachment at DBO, which was to be withdrawn. Depsang remained abandoned for many-many years. This is one subsector where the Indian claim line is much farther away and our troops have been patrolling up to the Limit of Patrolling (LOP), where Patrol Points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 & 13 are located and the area called as Depsang Bulge.

Indian Army has not been patrolling beyond this area for decades now.

Bottleneck Point – Burtse

The Bottleneck created 17 km away from Burtse, when activated by the PLA curtails the access of IA patrols to the LOP as PLA enjoys superior mobility due to surveillance and better road connectivity.

In 2013, PLA came close to the IA and ITBP post at Burtse, much inside our claim line and wanted to create a Surveillance Tower. They left on persuasion. The bottleneck, however, is not permanent in nature. It is a cold comfort as it effectively denies us mobility without holding ground.

Keeping in view the sensitivity of SSN and sole connectivity by Darbuk – Shyok – DBO Road, the Border Roads Organisation has speeded up the construction of alternate road Sasoma-Saser La–DBO, from the Nubra valley, despite the numerous technical challenges.

On a positive note, such huge pressure building up on the borders of both the countries, which are being led by nationalists and strong leaders, the stage may have been set and we could be inching towards a more durable peace on our borders, as all the previously built confidence measures are in tatters.

This may well be the starting to think, in terms of a more permanent solution. That’s what the statesmen are supposed to do. Who knows?

(Maj Gen Brajesh Kumar: Twitter @bkum2000)