China builds 5G infra along LAC, fresh construction at Pangong Tso

As India and China continue to be in a border dispute deadlock, Beijing has started laying fiber optics cables and installing other equipment for Fifth-generation wireless technology — commonly known as 5G — along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Chinese People's Liberation Army troops were also found constructing barracks and other structures near the Pangong Lake.

The intelligence agencies flagged that construction for 5G was noticed near the Demchok area, one of the disputed sites at LAC, in the first week of August. The agencies noticed the installation of equipment for new spectrum bandwidths, laying of fibre optics cables, and the development of cellular transmission technology.

The agencies also alerted that fresh construction works were seen along the Pangong Lake despite China having stated they will move back.

New huts and sheds have come up at Pangong Lake.

This is happening even when both the countries are in dialogue for disengagement.

The India-China standoff is nearing four months after tensions broke out in early May. While initial disengagement took place in Galwan Valley and Patrol Point 15; Pangong Lake and Gogra-Hot Springs area also known as patrol point 17A remains volatile.

At Pangong Lake, China has strengthened its positions between Finger-5 and 8 and India is to take up this move very strongly.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has refused to pull back eastwards from the 8-km stretch it has occupied from Finger-4 to Finger-8 by building scores of new fortifications there since early May. The mountain spurs jutting into the lake are referred to as Fingers in military parlance.

As China is not moving back, several rounds of deliberations took place in Delhi to decide the future strategy. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has also said if talks fail India will think of military options.

Frequent meetings have been taking place in the security establishment to review the situation along LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

China has made an attempt to change the status quo by putting up shelters and setting up a camp in areas that were under Indian control so far. India has found that the Chinese side has started troop, artillery and armor build-up in three sectors of the LAC — western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal).

Intelligence agencies had also alerted that China has also mobilized soldiers near Uttarakhand's Lipulekh Pass, a tri-junction between India, Nepal, and China situated atop the Kalapani Valley.

On June 15, as many as 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley..