New Pics Of Illegal Chinese Bridge Across Pangong Lake

The External Affairs Ministry monitoring the Chinese construction activity

New Delhi: New pictures coming from China of the new Chinese bridge being constructed across the Pangong Lake is now more than 400 metres long. Once completed, the bridge will give Beijing a significant military edge in an area that has been a key flashpoint between India and China in Eastern Ladakh.

Looking into the facts related to the bridge states, it is 8 metres wide, lies just south of a Chinese army field base on the North Bank of Pangong where Chinese field hospitals and troop accommodations were seen during the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2020.

The recent pictures come from the Satellites on January 16, 2022. It indicates that Chinese construction workers are using a heavy crane to help link the bridge's pillars with concrete slabs upon which the tarmac will be laid.

Given the extent of the construction, the bridge could be completed in a few months, though road access to Rutog - the main Chinese military hub in the region - will take longer to complete.

Last month, the first report of the construction was identified by "the Print." It showcased that for the first time in high-resolution satellite imagery, gives Chinese forces the ability to quickly mobilise soldiers to either bank of the Lake.

After finishing up the bridge, troops from the North Bank will no longer need to drive nearly 200 kilometres around the Pangong Lake to reach their base at Rutog. That journey will now be cut by approximately 150 km.

While the new bridge has been constructed in an area held by China since 1958, it remains clear that India considers the construction of this bridge entirely illegal. It is located ''practically right where India claims the Line of Actual Control to be,'' says Sim Tack, Chief Military Analyst at Force Analysis.

''This location is likely in part chosen for its practicality as this is indeed the narrowest point of the lake, but in a political context it also signifies the encroachment of Chinese infrastructure development right up to India's interpretation of the LAC.''

The External Affairs Ministry, which has been monitoring the Chinese construction activity, says, ''This bridge is being constructed in areas that have been under illegal occupation by China for around 60 years now. As you are well aware India has never accepted such illegal occupation.''

While New Delhi has ''increased significantly the budget for the development of border infrastructure and completed more roads and bridges than ever before,'' as per the foreign ministry.

The new Chinese bridge across Pangong is a direct response to the Indian Army's aggressive move to occupy the Kailash heights in the South Bank of the Pangong Lake in September 2020.