The Depsang Bulge or Burtsa BulgeMail Today Bureau, Let's shake hands: 20 days on, China withdraws troops from Ladakh, India Today, 5 May 2013 is a 900-square-kilometre area of mountain terrain in the disputed Aksai Chin region, which was conceded to India by China in 1960, but has remained under Chinese occupation since the 1962 Sino-Indian War.P. J. S. Sandhu, It Is Time to Accept How Badly India Misread Chinese Intentions in 1962 – and 2020, The Wire, 21 July 2020. "However, there was one exception and that was in the Depsang Plain (southeast of Karakoram Pass) where they seemed to have overstepped their Claim Line and straightened the eastward bulge." The area is immediately to the south of the Depsang Plains and encloses the basin of the Burtsa Nala (or Tiannan River, ), a stream originating in the Aksai Chin region and flowing west to merge with the Depsang Nala near the village of Burtsa in Ladakh, eventually draining into the Shyok River. The area is perceived to be of strategic importance to both the countries, sandwiched by strategic roads linking border outposts.Nirupama Subramanian, Krishn Kaushik, Month before standoff, China blocked 5 patrol points in Depsang, The Indian Express, 20 September 2020. "Control over Depsang Plains is vital to the defence of Ladakh, as it straddles the recently completed DSDBO road, an all-weather supply line from Leh to the final SSN outpost at Daulat Beg Oldie... The presence of Chinese soldiers on the Indian side of the LAC could pose a threat to the DSDBO road and areas to its west." Since 2013, China has made attempts to push the Line of Actual Control further west into Indian territory, threatening India's strategic road.
Geography
The Depsang Bulge is immediately to the south of the Depsang Plains. The "bulge", in theoretical Indian territory (had China's 1960 claim line been implemented), encloses the basin of the Burtsa Nala ("Tiannan River" to the Chinese), one of five rivers that drain into the Shyok River after rising in Aksai Chin. Near the campsite of Burtsa, a halting place on the traditional caravan route, the Depsang Nala flowing from the north joins the Burtsa Nala. The combined river flows west to join the Murgo Nala near Murgo and eventually drains into the Shyok River.Burtsa Nala basin, OpenStreetMap, retrieved 23 June 2021. All the streams bring snow-melt water, reaching the highest volume in the afternoons, and diminishing to practically nothing at other times.: "For many kilometres there was no drinking water and we had to trek 26 km in a single day.... it was late in the evening that we were criss-crossing the nala. It was dangerous and tiring to cross it, as it was now in floods and with no end in sight."
The Depsang Bulge contains the basin of the upper course of the Burtsa Nala, to the east of Burtsa and the traditional travel route. Based on various Indian news reports, it would appear that the Depsang Bulge area is over 19 km long east to west and about 5 km wide, giving an area of roughly 900 km2.Line Of Actual Control: China And India Again Squabbling Over Disputed Himalayan Border, International Business Times, 3 May 2013. "This past week, media reports said that in mid-April a small platoon of China’s People’s Liberation Army soldiers invaded an area in the Himalayan mountains, entering roughly 19 kilometers (11 miles) into Indian territory and setting up camp."Sushant Singh, What Rajnath Left Out: PLA Blocks Access to 900 Sq Km of Indian Territory in Depsang, The Wire, 17 September 2020. "Of the more than 1,000 square kilometres in Ladakh along the LAC now under Chinese control after tensions erupted in May, the scale of Chinese control in Depsang alone is about 900 square kilometres." Burtsa is at an elevation of 4800 metres, the source of Burtsa Nala at 5300 metres, and the surrounding hills rise up to 5500–5600 metres. Just beyond the hills to the south is another nala called the Jeong Nala ("Jiwan Nala" to the Indian military, "Nacho Chu" or "Nao Chu" on older maps), which does not have a "bulge" (Map 2).
Numerous tributary streams from the surrounding hills drain into the Burtsa Nala within the Depsang Bulge. Of particular note are two streams, both joining the main nala near a location called "Y-junction". The northern stream, Raki Nala, flows down from the Depsang Plains and hence, connects the Depsang Bulge to the Depsang Plains. The southern stream connects it to the Jeong Nala valley. Indian troops have traditionally used these two valleys to patrol the periphery of the Depsang Bulge.Praveen Swami, As PLA Seeks to Cut Off Indian Patrol Routes on LAC, ‘Bottleneck’ Emerges as Roadblock in Disengagement, News18, 24 June 2020.
Chinese claim lines
The so-called 1956 claim line of China is part of the "Big map of the People's Republic of China", published in 1956. It has special significance in that Chinese premier Zhou Enlai certified it to the Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru, in a December 1959 letter, as showing the correct boundary of China.: '[Zhou Enlai], in a letter of 17 December 1959, stated that the 1956 map "correctly shows the traditional boundary between the two countries in this sector."' The Chinese boundary in this map ran east of all but one of the rivers that drain into the Shyok River. (Map 2, green line)
In June 1960, when the Chinese delegates met the Indian delegates for border discussions, they revealed a new expanded boundary, which has come to be called "the 1960 claim line".: "As a matter of strategy, Mehta [Indian lead] sought to have the Chinese record their Western Sector claims on an authoritative map or a list of map coordinates. That way the conferees could see what the discrepancies between the claims of the two sides actually were." This line dissected all the rivers that drained into Shyok, except for the Burtsa Nala. (Map 2, brown line) Why the Burtsa Nala should have been singled out for this special treatment has not been explained. But the resulting "bulge" in the Indian territory around the Burtsa Nala has been dubbed the Depsang Bulge in popular parlance.
1962 war
Prior to the 1962 war, the Indian Army had established half a dozen posts on the hills to the north of the Depsang Bulge. These were mostly of platoon to section strength, manned by Jammu and Kashmir Militia (Ladakh Scouts). The Chinese PLA launched its attack on 20 October 1962, with overwhelming strength, a superiority of 10 to 1 in numbers, and eliminated most of them. The remaining posts were recalled to Burtsa and other rear locations.: "There was a rush of Indian soldiers and militiamen for reaching the rendezvous—Sasar Brangza, Burtse, Murgo or Sultan Chushku... On October 28 at 1400 hours the TAC HQ received the news that Major Randhawa was organising the defences of these camps." The Chinese forces advanced to their 1960 claim line in most locations.
However, at Depsang Bulge, the Chinese troops advanced further than the 1960 claim line, "straightening out the bulge". (Map 2, orange line, and Map 3, yellow line) Thus, a third line emerged, from the ceasefire line of 1962. More detailed maps of the ceasefire line show a smaller bulge in Indian territory at the mouth of the valley. The US Office of the Geographer's "Large-Scale International Boundaries" (LSIB) dataset shows this boundary (red line in Map 4).
A fourth line was contained in a map attached to a letter written by the Chinese premier Zhou Enlai to heads of certain non-aligned countries (or "African and Asian nations") in the midst of the 1962 war. A more detailed version of the Chinese map was in fact used by the non-aligned nations in arriving at their Colombo proposals. (Map 3) However the Chinese apparently continue to use their version of the map, which they misleadingly call the "LAC of 1959". It is apparently not drawn to scale. But they interpret the ceasefire line here running very near the confluence of the Depsang Nala with the Burtsa Nala.: "While the Indian Army asked the PLA to withdraw to its original positions as per the 1976 border patrolling agreement, the PLA produced a map, which was part of the Annexure to a letter written by Zhou to Nehru and the Conference of African-Asian leaders in November 1959 [sic; the correct date is November 1962], to buttress its case that the new position was well within the Chinese side of the LAC."Snehesh Alex Philip, Why Depsang Plains, eyed by China, is crucial for India’s defence in Ladakh, The Print, 19 September 2020. "The Chinese claim line here is about 1.5 km from an Indian military camp in an area known as Burtse."
The Indian depiction of the ceasefire line, as shown in Maps 2 and 3, is at a considerable distance from the confluence. Indeed, the Indian base at the confluence, Burtsa, is one of the locations where defences continued to be organised even as the clashes subsided.: "The last report which was received on October 28 at 1400 hours showed that the number of stragglers at Burtse, Murgo and Sultan Chushku was about 150. These men needed food, clothing and medical attendance.... Major Randhawa was organising the defences of these camps. The task was not easy, specially in the face of the shortage of clothing, food and accommodation." The Indian version of the ceasefire line was supported by the non-aligned countries in their Colombo proposals, (Map 3) as well as the US Government (Map 2).
1962–2012
After the 1962 war, both India and China were preoccupied with other issues and essentially left the border alone for several decades. By 1976, the Chinese preoccupation with the Tibetan rebels had ended and India also acquired much better information about the border. The Indian Cabinet established a China Study Group to recommend "patrolling limits, rules of engagement, and the pattern of Indian presence" along the border. Consequently, both sides gradually moved up to the line, asserting their presence. The patrols often crisscrossed, and the different perceptions of the LAC became manifest.
Between 2003 and 2008, China embarked on large-scale infrastructure development in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.: "In 2003, China initiated a major highway renovation project, which led to an upgrading of 51,000 km of roads in Tibet by the Beijing Olympics in 2008.... According to official Indian estimates, the road development undertaken by Beijing has given it the capability to move 11,500 tonnes per day whereas only 200 tonnes per day are required to sustain major military operations for sustained periods." Starting in 2010, the Aksai Chin Road (G219) was re-paved at a cost of $476 million.Ananth Krishnan, China spruces up highway through Aksai Chin, The Hindu, 11 June 2012. Along with it, numerous improvements to the border infrastructure in Aksai Chin also became visible, increasing the pressure on the LAC.R. N. Ravi, Smaller nations stand up to China's hegemony, we don't, Rediff, 29 April 2013. "They built a 20 km motorable road along Jeevan Nallah in 2010 and 15 km long motorable road along Raki Nallah from JAK II to GR 626516 [the grid reference of the Y-junction] in 2011—both on the Indian side in the Depsang Plain [Bulge] without a scintilla of resistance." See also: R. N. Ravi, China's strategic push in Ladakh, Assam Tribune, 22 May 2013. . An existing road to the Heweitan military base (roughly at the head of the Jeong Nala) was improved and extended to join the Tianwendian Highway in the north. This new strategic road, labelled "Tiankong Highway", ran immediately next to the Depsang Bulge in the east. (Map 4) It branched off a loop road that was constructed in the Depsang Plains in 1999–2000 in an area called "Trig Heights", close to the LAC (or, in the Indian view, across their perceived LAC).Sreeradha Datta, Security of India's Northeast: External Linkage, Strategic Analysis, November 2000. See Note 11.Chinese loop road in Depsang Plains mapped on OpenStreetMap, retrieved 15 February 2021.