Images show Chinese bridge across Pangong Lake in use

China completes operational bridge at Pangong Lake, reducing troop mobilization time. India-China standoff continues as China strengthens military infrastructure.

China has completed and operationalised a bridge connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Lake that allows it to significantly cut the time needed to mobilise troops and equipment, according to new satellite images.

China has completed and operationalised a bridge connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Lake. (HT Photo)

Reports about the ongoing construction of the nearly 400-metre bridge first emerged in early 2022, almost two years after the start of the military standoff between India and China in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that has taken bilateral ties to a six-decade low. A clash between troops of the two sides on the banks of Pangong Lake had marked the start of the face-off.

A series of rapid revisit satellite images captured by BlackSky, a US-based firm capable of capturing images 15 times a day with its satellites, in the early morning, midday and late afternoon of July 9 revealed the completion of the paved bridge and its use by vehicles. The bridge is located about 25 km from the LAC.

Automated vehicle detection identified a number of vehicles positioned at different locations on roadways accessing the bridge from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, including a vehicle transiting the bridge.

The detections also capture the changing number, location and distribution of vehicles throughout the day. Vehicles were also identified at a suspected fuel station on the northern access road for the bridge.

The bridge is located near the LAC in the disputed Aksai Chin area that is claimed by India. To be sure, China has been occupying this area since at least 1960. When reports of the construction of the bridge first emerged, the external affairs ministry had said India has never accepted such illegal occupation its territory.

On July 7, HT reported, again citing satellite images from BlackSky, that China’s military is digging in for the long haul in the area around Pangong Lake, having constructed underground bunkers to store weapons and fuel and hardened shelters for armoured vehicles at a key base at Sirjap.

“Completion of the bridge significantly reduces travel time for movement of equipment and personnel and provides another route linking China’s surrounding PLA facilities,” an analyst for BlackSky said.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the development, though people familiar with the matter said the Indian side has undertaken

a wide range of steps to bolster infrastructure and match steps taken by China’s PLA.

Experts said such a bridge would be a target for Indian air strikes or artillery in the event of hostilities but acknowledged that it gave the Chinese People’s Liberation Army several immediate advantages in mobilising both troops and equipment.

Air Vice Marshal (retired) Manmohan Bahadur, an aviator who served extensively in Ladakh region, said that while an air strike could take out such a bridge, the Chinese side will put in air defence weapons to protect the structure from such strikes.

“It doesn’t reduce the importance of the bridge for things such as stocking up supplies and moving troops both in peace and war. The Chinese have built a vital asset that will be of tremendous help to maintain their deterrence posture,” he said.

Pointing to the manner in which the Indian Army had captured several strategic heights on the southern bank of Pangong Lake in 2020, Bahadur said the bridge came up as a response and would enable the Chinese to ramp up troops and equipment in a short time.

The bridge bolsters the PLA’s Moldo Garrison on the southern bank of Pangong Lake by reducing the travel time from the northern bank and another key military base at Rutog. It will also allow the PLA to rapidly reinforce the Moldo Garrison by moving motorised brigades from the Rutog base and mobilise troop formations on both banks of the lake.

The bridge could also cut the travel time between Chinese military bases in the two sectors from 12 hours to about four hours, experts said.