Depsang Bulge
The Depsang Bulge or Burtsa Bulge 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 remains under Chinese occupation since the 1962 Sino-Indian War. The area is immediately to the south of Depsang Plains and encloses the basin of the Raki 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. Since 2013, China has made attempts to push the Line of Actual Control further west into the Indian territory, threatening India's strategic road. Geography. The Depsang Bulge is immediately to the south of Depsang Plains. The "bulge", in theoretical Indian territory (had China's 1960 claim line been implemented), encloses the basin of the Raki Nala ("Tiannan River" to the Chinese), one of five rivers that drains into the Shyok River after rising in Aksai Chin. Near the campsite of Burtsa, a halting place on  the traditional caravan route, the Raki Nala merges with Depsang Nala flowing from the north, and forms the Burtsa Nala. The latter flows west to join the Murgo Nala near Murgo and eventually drains into the Shyok River. All the streams bring snow-melt water, reaching the highest volume in the afternoons, and diminishing to practically nothing at other times. 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 km. Burtsa is at an elevation of  4800 metres, the source of Raki 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). 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 the Chinese premier Zhou En-lai certified it to the Indian premier  Jawaharlal Nehru in a December 1959 letter as being a correct map. The Chinese boundary in this map ran east of all the rivers that drain into the Shyok River (including the Raki Nala) with only one exception. 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". This line dissected all the rivers that drain into Shyok, except for the Raki Nala. Why Raki Nala should have been singled out for this special treatment has not been explained. But  the resulting "bulge" in the Indian territory around the Raki Nala has been dubbed the Depsang Bulge in popular parlance. 1962 war. Prior to the 1962 war, 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. 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). Thus a third line emerged, from the ceasefire line of 1962 (the orange line in Maps 2 and 3). More detailed maps of the ceasefire line show a small bulge in Indian territory at the mouth of Raki Nala. The US Office of the Geographer's "Large-Scale International Boundaries" 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 En-lai 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 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 Raki Nala with the Depsang Nala. 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 after the clashes subsided. The Indian line was supported by the non-aligned countries in their Colombo proposals, 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 criss-crossed 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. Starting in 2010, the Aksai Chin Road (G219) was re-paved at a cost of $476 million. Along with it, numerous  improvements to the border infrastructure within Aksai Chin also became visible, increasing the pressure on the LAC. 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. In 2009, a loop road was constructed in Depsang Plains in an area called "Trig Heights", close to the LAC (or, in the Indian view, "across" their perceived LAC). Branching off from the loop road, an access road  to the Raki Nala valley in the Depsang Bulge was also constructed. By 2013, the Chinese had the ability to ply vehicles in the Raki Nala river bed. (Map 5) Coupled with these constructions, the Indian Army also reported a steep rise in incursions by the Chinese PLA into Indian territory: 50 incusions during 2005, 70 in 2009 in the Trig Heights area, 30 incursion in 2009 in the Depsang Bulge area. Given that the Indians regard the entire Depsang Bulge as Indian territory, all the constructions in the area were "Chinese intrusions". The Indians were also improving their border  infrastructure during this period, albeit at a slower pace. The air strip at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) at the northern perimeter of Depsang Plains was reactivated in 2008, after a gap of 43 years. The Chinese immediately objected to this action. India also commissioned a road link to DBO in 2001, scheduled to be completed by 2012. The initial road did not meet the all-weather requirement, and it had to be rebuilt on an improved alignment later. But several sections of it were available for winter use by 2013. 2013 standoff. On the night of 15 April 2013, three  weeks before a scheduled visit of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India, a platoon of Chinese troops intruded into the Indian territory at the mouth of Depsang Bulge and erected a tented post. The Indian border police spotted an advance patrol of theirs the next morning at a distance of 600 metres from the Indian post. Aerial reconnaissance detected the tented post on the Raki Nala, on the site of an old Indian post. It had 19 Chinese soldiers (later mentioned as 40), including five officers, two dogs and three SUVs. The Chinese held placards reading "this is Chinese  territory, go back". The Indian border troops set up their own tented camp 300 metres away as per the agreed protocol. India's China Study Group met and recommended stern measures to signal India's displeasure. However, prime minister Manmohan Singh decided that it should be treated as a "localised problem". The local commanders of both the sides met at the Chushul–Moldo Border Personnel Meeting point. While the Indian side asked the Chinese to withdraw to original positions as per the 1976 border patrolling agreement, the Chinese produced a map they described as the "LAC of 1959". According to  the map, the entire Depsang Bulge belonged to China. Indian ambassador in China S. Jaishankar picked up the matter with Deng Zhen Hua, the Director-General of boundary affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and asked for the incursion to be rolled back. Around the same time, the Indian troops in the Chumar sector in southern Ladakh constructed a tin shed at their patrol point close to the LAC. Director-General Deng asked for the structure to be removed. At the border pesonnel meeting on 23 April, the Chinese officers repeated the demand and also asked for the removal of  bunkers at Fukche (also in southern Ladakh). The Indian government in Delhi sent additional diplomatic signals to force the pace of negotiations and the Indian forces detained two Chinese officials who came to investigate the shed at Chumar. The Chinese eventually disengaged on 5 May and took some retaliatory actions at Chumar. 2020–21 standoff. During the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes, a standoff occurred again at the Depsang Bulge at a location called "bottleneck" or "Y-junction". It appears that both India and China have tracks leading up to the "bottleneck", where the Raki Nala valley becomes too narrow to ply  vehicles. The Indian patrols used to go beyond this point by foot. It was reported that the Chinese troops were coming up in vehicles at or after the bottleneck point, and blocking the passage of Indian patrols. In order to avoid confrontation with the Chinese troops, the Indian patrols were apparently asked to not go beyond the bottleneck point. Thus they were unable to reach Patrol Point 10 in the Raki Nalla valley and related Patrol Points 11, 11A, 12 and 13 along their perceived Line of Actual Control. Indian officials have claimed that the Chinese obstruction at the bottleneck  has been going on since the 2017 Doklam standoff. Former Army officers have however contested the claim and maintained that regular patrols have been going on ever since the 2013 standoff ended.