China-India border: why another Chinese bridge may be the latest friction point

Beijing has built a second bridge across the disputed Pangong Tso lake in the Himalayas, in an area New Delhi says belongs to India

Analysts say this could lead to more political rows, increase region’s militarisation, diminish chance of decades long stand-off being resolved

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A bulldozer working on a road near Pangong Tso lake in the Himalayas. Photo: Kamran Yousuf

Published: 7:30pm, 25 May 2022Updated: 3:52am, 26 May 2022

Even as talks to resolve it continue to flounder, the border stand-off between China and India may have a new friction point – another Chinese bridge across the disputed Pangong Tso lake in the Himalayas, just weeks after an initial one was built, and appearing right next to it.

Both structures are in an area India lays claim to and cut across the high-altitude lagoon, connecting its northern and southern banks. Reports in the Indian media have estimated the bridges to be about 450 metres long and 10 metres wide (1,500 feet by 33 feet).

The lake spreads across regions administered by both countries, in the Indian region of Ladakh and the Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin, with nearly two thirds of it under Beijing’s control.

According to military generals who have served in the area, the latest bridge will allow Chinese troops to quickly move military equipment and personnel across the Pangong Tso, which is over 130km long and has an average width of around 2-6km (1.2-3.7 miles).

A banner put up by the Indian army near Pangong Tso lake in India’s Ladakh area. File photo: AP

Rather than Chinese troops having to move along and around the eastern arc of the lake to reach their military base at Rutog, 10km south, the bridge will mean a faster and more direct trip. An analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated travel time would be cut from 12 hours to 3-4 hours.

Lying just kilometres away from the hotly-contested Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border separating the two countries, Indian analysts believe the bridge could lead to further political rows, increase the militarisation of the region and diminish chances of the decades-long stand-off being resolved.

China-India border: why another Chinese bridge may be the latest friction point

Beijing has built a second bridge across the disputed Pangong Tso lake in the Himalayas, in an area New Delhi says belongs to India Analysts say this could lead to more political rows, increase region’s militarisation, diminish chance of decades long stand-off being resolved

Beijing has built a second bridge across the disputed Pangong Tso lake in the Himalayas, in an area New Delhi says belongs to India

Analysts say this could lead to more political rows, increase region’s militarisation, diminish chance of decades long stand-off being resolved