PANGONG TSO        

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Context

• China is constructing a bridge in eastern Ladakh connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Tso (lake).

Geography

• Pangong Tso is an endorheic saline lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet.
• It has a land-locked basin separated from the Indus River basin by a small elevated ridge.
• It is 134 km long and divided into five sublakes, called Pangong Tso, Tso Nyak, Rum Tso (twin lakes) and Nyak Tso.
• The lake, a glacial melt, has mountain spurs of the Chang Chenmo range jutting down, referred to as fingers.

Pangong Tso and LAC

• Pangong Tso is in disputed territory. The Line of Actual Control passes through the lake.
• Approximately 50% of the length of the overall lake lies within Tibet China, 40% in Ladakh India and the rest is disputed and is a de-facto buffer zone between India and China.
• An Inner Line Permit is required to visit the lake as it lies on the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control.

Recognition

• The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.
• This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the convention.

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