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Blog / 09 Jul 2020

(Daily News Scan - DNS English) Ladakh : A Cursory Glance on History

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(Daily News Scan - DNS English) Ladakh : A Cursory Glance on History


Ladakh, a high altitude region in the northern parts of India, is in the limelight currently due to India-China conflict. The incident took place at Galwan valley in Eastern Ladakh region. Fight broke between both the Indian and Chinese militaries, of 20 soldiers and a commanding officer of INDIA were martyred. Indian and Chinese troops were seen pelting stones on each other and engaging in fisticuffs near the Pangong Lake after the Chinese military transgressed kilometres inside territory controlled by India along the 135-kilometer long water body.

Ladakh is a place that has been of geo strategic importance to both India and China. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and Himalayas to the south. It was originally inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. Historically the region included the valleys of Baltistan, Indus, and Nubra, besides Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti, Aksai Chin, Ngari and Rudok.

In this DNS we will talk about the history of Ladakh and its importance

In the beginning of the first century AD, Ladakh was the part of Kushan Empire. Later on, alternating between the two kingdoms of Kashmir and Zhangzhung, came under their rule. In 1834, Gen Zora war Singh, a general of Raja Gulab Singh who ruled Jammu as part of the Sikh empire, extended the boundaries of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom to Ladakh, was part of Tibet and was ruled by dynasties of local Lamas till 15 century.
When the partition of India and Pakistan took place, Ladakh was attacked by the tribal raiders from Pakistan. Kargil was captured by them and they headed for Leh where they were confronted by the Indian Army, who got back Kargil.

China today claims Aksai Chin to be part of Hotan County of its Xinjiang province. India has always considered Aksai Chin to be part of Jammu and Kashmir.

Back in the 1950s the Chinese built a highway, called western highway or NH219, connecting Tibet with Xinjiang through this region, which was more easily accessible to the Chinese than to the Indians, who were across the Karakoram. India learnt of this road in 1957, and it was one of the causes of the 1962 India-China war, after which China strengthened its control over this region. It was built without India’s consent.

On March 2, 1963 a Sino- Pakistani Agreement was signed. With the signing of the agreement Pakistan surrendered the Shaksgam Valley, which was part of the Baltistan region north of the Karakoram.

In the year 1951, The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) occupied Tibet. They began to eye on Ladakh. The reason was that the road connecting Kashgar in Xinjiang to Lhasa in Tibet (NH 219) had to pass through Aksai Chin, which was held by Indians but was seldom patrolled by them.

The Tibetan revolt of 1959 and the Dalai Lama’s flight to India saw China further strengthening its military presence in Ladakh to ensure the security of NH 219. India reacted with its ‘forward policy’ and began setting up Army posts in the region to prevent Chinese expansion.

This resulted in the clash between the Indian and Chinese forces in the Kongka Pass area in 1959. Later, Galwan Valley became the scene of action when the Indian Army established a post to cut off the Chinese post in the Samjunjling area, marking the beginning of the 1962 war.

Pangong Tso, this lake is one-third in India and two-thirds in China, is of great tactical significance to the Chinese who have built infrastructure along both its sides to ensure the speedy build-up of troops. Chinese incursions in this region aim at shifting the LAC westward so that they are able to occupy important heights both on the north and the south of the lake, which will enable them to dominate the Chushul Bowl. During the 1962 war, the narrow Chushul valley, which lies on the road to Leh with Pangong Tso to its north, was an important target for the Chinese. It was here that the Battle of Chushul was fought.

The area spanning Galwan, Depsang plateau, and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), is called Sub-Sector North (SSN). This enclave that lies to the east of the Siachen glacier is of immense importance given its proximity to the Karakoram Pass, close to China’s western highway or NH 219 going to Aksai Chin. It’s the SSN that provides land access to Central Asia through the Karakoram Pass.

Sub-Sector North (SSN) is critical to India also because it offers maximum scope for military collaboration between China and Pakistan against India by virtue of its location bordering the Siachen glacier.

Domination of this area is also essential for the protection of the Siachen glacier, lying between the Saltoro ridge on the Pakistani side and the Saser ridge close to the Chinese claim line.

The Galwan heights overlook the all-weather Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) Road, which connects Leh to DBO at the base of the Karakoram Pass that separates China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region from Ladakh. Domination over these heights allows China to easily prohibit this road.

Last year, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) made this rugged terrain even more accessible by completing the 430-metre-long Colonel Chewang Rinchen Setu (bridge) across the Shyok River. With this, the Darbuk route to DBO became available round the year, and the travel time of troops to the SSN was halved.

The Chinese have also intruded into the Depsang plains near a place called Bottleneck point, an area 7 km away from an ITBP base on the newly-built Darbu-Shyok-DBO road.

They have done it previously as well, most recently in 2013 and 2015, coming almost 15 km inside the Indian LAC. In 2019 LADAKH was declared as a Union Territory by scrapping off Article 370, India and China tension increased. Gradually it led to the conflict that took place in June 2020.

Ladakh since ancient times held a prominence in this region. Ladakh gained importance due to being at crossroads of trade route. But since Chinese authorities closed the borders between Tibetan autonomous region and Ladakh the International trade dwindled except tourism. With the announcement of Central government to make this region a union territory some ray of hope rekindled but recent border crisis has again raised a question mark on fate of this region. When the looming crisis will end can't be said but recent brawl has for sure has put forth a gloomy picture of region’s future.