India and China have been involved in multiple stand-offs on the disputed LAC in eastern Ladakh for the past 18 months. Both countries have also forward deployed their forces on the entire India-China border.
Latest satellite images reveal that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is constructing a bridge in eastern Ladakh connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Tso – one of the five stand-off points.
This is not a one-off instance of China’s border supporting infrastructure development. Since 1999, China has constructed dual-use infrastructure in Tibet under its western development strategy (‘xibu da kaifa’).
The speed, scope and scale increased since 2015 after Chinese President Xi Jinping initiated military reforms
China is also constructing dual-use airports and military helipads in southern Tibet to support its armed forces. For instance, China has constructed 12 dualuse and military airports and air bases in the Tibet Autonomous Region, south Xinjiang region and broader Tibetan region. T
On completing these projects, China would be able to assert its sovereignty on the disputed territories with India, reduce the turn-around time for mobilisation and deployment of forces from the interior, and support the forward-deployed border forces.
India’s reactions to these developments underline its efforts to re-establish the conventional deterrence on the border. It is constructing long-pending border roads and bridges for swift troop movement, raising a strike corps for punitive deterrence, wargaming on the Himalayas, attempting to modernise its armed forces’ strike.
India’s bureaucratic inertia, lack of coordination between civilian and military establishments, budgetary limitations, and reactionary nature of weapons acquisition policy, make it arduous to bridge the gap between the demand and supply for re-establishing deterrence on the border in the near future.