India Today TV has accessed the first clear visual evidence of the Chinese army's concerted mobilisation in areas close to the Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie sectors

by Shiv Aroor

While standoff zones on either bank of Ladakh's Pangong lake have become the face of the India-China standoff in the last 18 days, especially with four firing incidents now reported in a span of 10 days, the aggressive Chinese military posture 200 km to the north in Ladakh's Depsang area has become clearly visible for the first time.

India Today TV has accessed the first clear visual evidence of the Chinese army's concerted mobilisation in areas close to the Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie sectors. Satellite photographs from European space assets from July and September show the first visible evidence of a build-up in at least six areas near a pre-existing Chinese all-weather post about 23 km east of Daulat Beg Oldie on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control.
Depsang has become a sector where the two armies are now deployed in some of the most prominent strengths in this standoff, complete with tank regiments, motorised columns and artillery. The Indian Army is well aware that the PLA build-up near Depsang is directly supported by the large Chinese logistics facility in Dahongliutan in the Hotan country of Xinjiang, due north from the area in question here. Fresh Chinese deployments near Depsang since late August include an additional artillery brigade, field hospital and a complement of vehicle-mounted tactical communications jammers.


The movement of the PLA artillery brigade into the area is of some significance in light of the fact that it happened just days after Major Generals from both armies held talks in Daulat Beg Oldie on August 8. Since then, the mobilisation is being seen as another prominent example of the clear and wilful dichotomy in China's words and actions on the ground. It must be said, however, that the Indian Army had sensed that Depsang would likely escalate, and deployed in sizeable numbers there from early May, including a full T-90 tank regiment and plentiful mechanised infantry.

While both sides remain on their side of the LAC in Depsang, attempts to block patrols have been taking place since late May, with the Indian Army mounting its own localised movements to apply counter-pressure on Chinese patrols. While the rest of the friction points further south simmered, Depsang-DBO settled into a sort of rhythm of deployment and counter-deployment. But since August 29, when the Indian Army launched a concerted drive to acquire the tactical advantage across sectors in Pangong Tso and sub-sector Chushul, tensions have understandably carried northward to the Depsang frontier. Movements on both sides have significantly increased, though ground commanders continue to keep the peace here.

India Today TV was the first to report in June this year that while the 2020 standoff in eastern Ladakh was restricted to the Galwan Valley, Hot Springs/Gogra posts and Pangong Tso's banks, the Chinese were clearly building up prominently near Depsang in an effort to create a new front. Depsang is a sensitive sector. It was here in 2013 that the Chinese Army intruded several kilometres across the LAC into Indian-controlled territory and squatted for many weeks. It took a concerted diplomatic push to dislodge what was then a clear attempt to change the status quo just south of the sensitive Karakoram pass.

The Army had previously perceived the Depsang-DBO developments to be an extension of an ongoing years-long effort by China to mobilise in the area, one that has thus far been thwarted by pre-emptive mobilisations by the Indian Army. However, it is no longer possible to see Chinese actions as separate from one another.