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In its meetings with China, India has not raised the issue of Depsang so far, whereas it is far more strategically important than any other area and PLA ingress is 18 km on the Indian side of the LAC. Is this silence linked to Pangong resolution? My report https://indianexpress.com/article/india/depsang-plains-pangong-tso-india-china-standoff-6511198/
“Depsang is tactically and strategically far more important to us than the Pangong lake. It is critical for India’s access to the DBO airstrip as well as to the Karakoram region. The DSDBO road is some 6 km away. Any shift in the LAC would be disadvantageous”: Lt Gen Hooda (retd)
The former northern army commander also told me that “By pushing the LAC westward, China thinks it would be further securing the western highway, its main link between the two restive provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet.” That is the strategic importance of Depsang for China.
Army says Depsang has not been raised with the Chinese so far as it is not a faceoff site, unlike the other four friction points on the LAC where disengagement is being discussed. Depsang could be raised with the Chinese when discussion on de-escalation along the LAC takes place.
Fear is that Indian has deliberately chosen to not raise Depsang so far, despite its strategic importance, as it wants the PLA troops to withdraw from Pangong. By maintaining silence on Depsang, it hopes to incentivise the Chinese side to restore the status quo ante at Pangong.
Another argument from officialdom is that India has chosen to stay silent on Depsang as the area has been contested for years, and the crisis there should not be seen as of recent vintage. It claims that Indian patrols have not accessed these areas since 2017, which Army denies.
Why the argument about Depsang being an old problem is misleading? Lt Gen Hooda cited the example of a watch tower constructed by the Chinese on the Indian side of the LAC in September 2015. It was destroyed by the Army, whereby the Chinese accepted that it was on the Indian side
Bottleneck or Y-junction, where Chinese troops are obstructing Indian patrols, is less than 30 km from the DBO airfield and around 7 km from Burtse town on the strategic DSDBO road. It is around 18 km on the Indian side of the LAC, as reported on June 25. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-china-border-line-of-actual-control-closer-to-strategic-dbo-chinese-army-attempts-ingress-via-depsang-plains-6474740/
By stalling Indian patrols at Bottleneck, Chinese troops are denying India access to five of its PPs: PP-10, PP-11, PP-11A, PP-12 and PP-13. These PPs lie on an arc of around 20 km from Raki Nala to Jiwan Nala, on a line marked as the LoP, a few kms to the west of the LAC.
Bottleneck in Depsang is the same place where the Chinese had pitched tents after an ingress in April 2013. The standoff had then lasted three weeks before status quo ante was restored, after India did a quid pro quo to go into the Chinese side of the LAC at Chumar.
Depsang is much more strategically important than Pangong. In both places, LAC has been disputed by the two sides where both armies have patrolled the area in contention. Since the current crisis began, PLA has stopped the Indian patrols from reaching the LAC in both the areas.
But Pangong Tso has been more in the national spotlight than Depsang, with inhabited areas closer to the lake. Pangong is also a prominent tourist spot with better and easier accessibility from Leh, whereby Chinese ingress on the lake has attracted a lot of public attention.
[N/N] Bottomline: As evident from talks so far, the focus has been on getting the PLA out from Pangong area while maintaining a total silence on Depsang. Depsang is much more strategically valuable to India & China than Pangong. Satisfying public opinion beats strategic import?
Pardon my bad sketching skills, this is the area we are talking about. Depsang plains, the five PPs denied to Indian patrols and the area of bottleneck or Y junction.
