In #CutTheClutter episode 570, Shekhar Gupta explains strategic importance of Depsang Plains, Daulat Beg Oldie & answers the important question — has China occupied territory in India?
New roads, expected to aid faster military movement, are over and above the 73 India-China Border Roads already planned. Alternate road to DBO through Sasser La remains top priority.
Daulat Beg Oldi is adjacent to the Chip Chap river and lies 8 km south and 9 km west of the LAC with China, making it strategically important for India.
ASI survey led by Amalananda Ghosh proved with facts, evidence and precision that it’s not solely Pakistan or India but both were home to the 5000-year-old civilisation.
India’s industrial output growth saw a 10-month low in June, with Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing by mere 1.5% as against 1.9% in May 2025.
ACM Katre was 2nd IAF chief to die in harness. It was at a memorial lecture in his honour where IAF chief AP Singh revealed that India shot down 6 Pakistani aircraft in Op Sindoor.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
It is puzzling how Chinese can control a Y Junction 18km inside the LAC without occupying any territory within India. Surely they have setup a camp and supply lines for that 18 kms depth ? Shekhar Gupta must justify how he says that China has not occupied territory in the SSN.
This article clearly states “Therefore, the correct answer to the question, ‘has India lost territory to China’ is that India has been denied access to territory in China in Depsang Plains.”
Why would we want access to Chinese held territory in the first place ? Does it mean we want to go across even what we consider the LAC ?
Good catch, I think it was a misprint.
It is intrusions into territory on our side of LAC.
They are preventing us now from patrolling within our own side of LAC.
In 2013 and 2015 also they intruded into Depsang within our LAC.
However that does not mean they can prevent us from reaching DBO. Just that they don’t want us to come near the LAC in Aksai Chin.
Thanks for throwing so much light on Depsang DBO sector.
The Print has done a great job in giving a realistic picture of our situation there.
The East Karakoram range would have been a natural border but the British went ahead and included Aksai Chin when they delineated the British India border with Tibet.
North of the Chang Chenmo river, Tsogtsalu – Gogra points upto Depsang the PLA denies us access to the entire Northeast Ladakh. Their G219 highway runs through that portion. It simply is not possible to evict them from the Aksai Chin plains as we cannot move our mechanised equipment there quickly.
Luckily the Saser La pass is accessible during summers only so the PLA cannot attempt to deny us access to Siachen any time of the year. I don’t think they would be interested at all unless we threaten their CPEC highway corridor.
Whatever they strategised and executed in 1950’s has served them well so far.
Should Xi Jinping’s china use such a roundabout way to give message to India? “General Panag also said that by creating this situation, Xi Jinping is actually trying to offer India a negotiating line — the 1959 Chinese claim line.” Better example is that in 1959, Chou En Lai the Chinese Prime Minister offered to Nehru to exchange Axai Chin for Arunachal Pradesh. Former is easily accessed from Tibet side and difficult to access from Indian side. Latter is easily accessed from Indian side and not from Tibet side. But, Nehru refused to consider such trade off. At that time, the pressure of public opinion was not so strong as to block this trade off. Nehru himself had said “Not a blade of grass grows in Axai Chin”. Nehru’s obduracy denied India an opportunity to settle these two major border issues once and for all.
On second thoughts, I wonder whether China, which is in the habit of breaking all the past agreements, would have adhered to this arrangement?
Prior to our independencr, documents from the Chinese sources had shown the boundary in Aksai Chin as per the Johnson Line which runs along the Kunlun mountains. The Chinese became quite clever in the 1950’s after the British had left and got their highway constructed through Aksai Chin and moreover we were not patrolling these areas.
Aksai Chin has no doubt been easier for the Chinese to access. For us it was always difficult to cross the Eastern Karakoram range and other ranges like Chang Chenmo range to reach there.
For your second question only the Chinese can answer. They are equally deceptive now as they were in the 1950’s. Nehru learnt it the hard way and Modi is going through it now, as far as present situation is concerned no one knows what their reasons are we can only guess. Maybe they are building another highway or building a naval base in the Indian Ocean to distract us…
he dresses up ridiculously offering point blank among camouflaged soldiers. No brain, all bed time emotion, needs to be adult one day.
It is puzzling how Chinese can control a Y Junction 18km inside the LAC without occupying any territory within India. Surely they have setup a camp and supply lines for that 18 kms depth ? Shekhar Gupta must justify how he says that China has not occupied territory in the SSN.
This article clearly states “Therefore, the correct answer to the question, ‘has India lost territory to China’ is that India has been denied access to territory in China in Depsang Plains.”
Why would we want access to Chinese held territory in the first place ? Does it mean we want to go across even what we consider the LAC ?
Good catch, I think it was a misprint.
It is intrusions into territory on our side of LAC.
They are preventing us now from patrolling within our own side of LAC.
In 2013 and 2015 also they intruded into Depsang within our LAC.
However that does not mean they can prevent us from reaching DBO. Just that they don’t want us to come near the LAC in Aksai Chin.
Thanks for throwing so much light on Depsang DBO sector.
The Print has done a great job in giving a realistic picture of our situation there.
The East Karakoram range would have been a natural border but the British went ahead and included Aksai Chin when they delineated the British India border with Tibet.
North of the Chang Chenmo river, Tsogtsalu – Gogra points upto Depsang the PLA denies us access to the entire Northeast Ladakh. Their G219 highway runs through that portion. It simply is not possible to evict them from the Aksai Chin plains as we cannot move our mechanised equipment there quickly.
Luckily the Saser La pass is accessible during summers only so the PLA cannot attempt to deny us access to Siachen any time of the year. I don’t think they would be interested at all unless we threaten their CPEC highway corridor.
Whatever they strategised and executed in 1950’s has served them well so far.
SG is back to his usual confusing messages : Modi is not lying, the Chinese did not take land, they only restricted our freedom of operation !
Then why did Modi’s face and body language give the appearance of a man lying after getting a good beating ?
That image made up my mind about such Hindus – they boast without substance, they are incapable in action, and they lie afterwards !
Should Xi Jinping’s china use such a roundabout way to give message to India? “General Panag also said that by creating this situation, Xi Jinping is actually trying to offer India a negotiating line — the 1959 Chinese claim line.” Better example is that in 1959, Chou En Lai the Chinese Prime Minister offered to Nehru to exchange Axai Chin for Arunachal Pradesh. Former is easily accessed from Tibet side and difficult to access from Indian side. Latter is easily accessed from Indian side and not from Tibet side. But, Nehru refused to consider such trade off. At that time, the pressure of public opinion was not so strong as to block this trade off. Nehru himself had said “Not a blade of grass grows in Axai Chin”. Nehru’s obduracy denied India an opportunity to settle these two major border issues once and for all.
On second thoughts, I wonder whether China, which is in the habit of breaking all the past agreements, would have adhered to this arrangement?
Prior to our independencr, documents from the Chinese sources had shown the boundary in Aksai Chin as per the Johnson Line which runs along the Kunlun mountains. The Chinese became quite clever in the 1950’s after the British had left and got their highway constructed through Aksai Chin and moreover we were not patrolling these areas.
Aksai Chin has no doubt been easier for the Chinese to access. For us it was always difficult to cross the Eastern Karakoram range and other ranges like Chang Chenmo range to reach there.
For your second question only the Chinese can answer. They are equally deceptive now as they were in the 1950’s. Nehru learnt it the hard way and Modi is going through it now, as far as present situation is concerned no one knows what their reasons are we can only guess. Maybe they are building another highway or building a naval base in the Indian Ocean to distract us…