China is building a second bridge over territory held by it in Pangong Tso, which is capable of carrying armoured columns, ThePrint has learnt. The development comes as the Ladakh stand-off between India and China enters its third year.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said the first bridge — whose construction was started at the end of 2021 and finished last month — is being used as a service bridge for the construction of the second.
“The first bridge is being used by the Chinese to station their cranes and bring over other construction equipment. The new bridge, right next to it, is bigger and wider than the one they finished construction of in April this year,” a source said.
When the construction of the new bridge was spotted less than three weeks ago, the source added, “the entire game plan of the Chinese was understood”.
The new bridge is being built from both sides simultaneously.On 3 January, ThePrint reported that the Chinese were building a bridge at Pangong Tso, over territory held by it.
At the time, sources had said the bridge was being built with pre-fabricated structures to counter any August 2020-like operation of the Indian Army, which had led to India capturing dominating heights on the southern banks of the Pangong Tso.
The bridge was aimed at cutting down a 180-km loop from Khurnak to the southern banks through Rudok, sources had said. This would mean that the route from Khurnak to Rudok would come down to 40-50 km.
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