The Chinese army carried out “provocative military movements to change the status quo” on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake on the intervening night of August 29-30 but the attempt was thwarted by Indian troops.
The surreptitious move by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was responded to with swift action by the Indian Army occupying certain heights that allow it to dominate the Moldo Garrison and Spanggur Gap under Chinese control. Both India and China had earlier claimed some of these heights.
India Today’s OSINT team looks at the latest satellite images to understand why the Indian Army had to take drastic and strong steps in this dormant sector.
China’s Claims on India Trespassing
The PLA, as always, doesn’t officially claim anything but the internet chatter on Chinese social media Weibo seems to suggest that India has occupied at least one dominating height at Camel’s Back which is on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Chinese social media widely quoted China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying for using a proverb (bù d zì zho), meaning ‘freely admit one’s guilt’, which implies that “India is confessing to trespassing without pressure”.
The translation of an article published in Chinese in Reuters on September 2 also indicates the same.
The Chinese Weibo handles showed two low-resolution images of August 29 and September 2 possibly from Gaofen-2 satellites.
These satellite images show possible Indian bivouacs, or temporary shelter/camp, on the top of Camel’s Back on the LAC and some bivouacs at the base towards the Indian side.
Nowhere do these images show Indian troops crossing the LAC. The images clearly indicate that the bivouacs are on the LAC.
India’s stand so far is that the Indian Army has not crossed the LAC.
China’s Deceit Caught
The satellite images of September 1 earlier revealed a post being constructed by the PLA south of Spanggur Tso and north of Rezang La.
Another Chinese PLA deceit has come to light through satellite imagery.
The PLA troops were possibly busy constructing a new road across the Spanggur Gap from the Chinese BPM building towards the Black Top. The earlier road from the BPM building to their garrison behind the hillock and another one going towards the Indian BPM post already existed.
Probably after August 29, the PLA had surreptitiously started road construction about 1km from the BPM building across the Spanggur Gap towards the base of Black Top on the southern side.
India’s electronic surveillance in the border areas possibly detected and identified the Chinese PLA movements very clearly.
This new road construction now is very clearly visible on satellite images of September 1 and measures almost 1.5km long.
This area was previously patrolled by China the markings of which are seen as a foot track in historical images of a year ago. The Indian Army has raised objections to such patrollings by China in earlier Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs).
However, road construction during cloudy and inclement weather probably indicated the Chinese PLA’s intentions to occupy these heights. The Indian security forces reacted in the most professional manner to push them back and gain advantageous ground all along the southern side of Spanggur Tso.
(Col Vinayak Bhat (Retd) is a consultant for India Today. A satellite imagery analyst, he served in the Indian Army for over 33 years)