Kongka Pass
The Kongka Pass or Kongka La () is a low mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control between India and China in eastern Ladakh. It lies on a spur of the Karakoram range that intrudes into the Chang Chenmo Valley adjacent to the disputed Aksai Chin region. China claimed the location as its border in a 1956 map, and attacked an Indian patrol party in 1959 killing ten policemen and apprehending ten others. Known as the Kongka Pass incident, the event was a milestone in the escalation of the border dispute between the two countries. History. In the  late 1800s, the pass was referred to as "Salmu Kongka" and described as a "small pass". It was an unimportant saddle point on a small hill that juts into the Chang Chenmo Valley. The normal travel route followed the course of Chang Chenmo, which bends around the hill. (See map.) Colonial-era British sources state that the traditional boundary between Ladakh and Tibet was at Lanak La, where the Chang Chenmo River originates. They also state that the border was accepted by both sides. Chinese maps also recognised Lanak La as the boundary till 1951. However, by late 1950s, Chinese  premier Zhou Enlai started claiming that Kongka Pass was the "traditional customary boundary" of China. Scholars have pointed out the inconsistencies in Chinese claims prior to 1960s. Kongka Pass incident. Until October 1959, China had not declared its border with Ladakh. When enquired in 1954 and again in 1956, the Chinese Premier Zhou En-lai replied that the PRC government was still printing Kuomintang maps and had not had the time to prepare their own maps. While maintaining this position, the Chinese laid the Sianking–Tibet road (now G219) through Aksai Chin and detained an Indian patrol party that was  sent to investigate it. In matter of fact, the 1956 Chinese map (called the "Big map of the People's Republic of China") showed Kongka Pass as China's boundary in the Chang Chenmo Valley. The three locations, Tsogstsalu, Hot Springs and Shamal Lungpa, where an Indian police party was sent to set up posts in 1959, were on the Indian side of the boundary per this map. Nevertheless, a clash occurred at the Kongka Pass. The police party was led by an Intelligence Bureau officer, Karam Singh, who was an experienced patroller in Ladakh. He states that they had  established a post at Hot Springs and were about to head to Shamal Lungpa. On 20 October, two men sent out for reconnaissance went missing. According to the Chinese version of the events they crossed the Kongka Pass, which China now regarded as a border pass. The Chinese troops detained the reconnaissance team. On 21 October, with signs of Chinese presence becoming available, a larger search party of 20 men was formed for the missing reconnaissance team. The men encountered Chinese soldiers at a hill near the Kongka Pass, and a firefight ensued. Chinese forces had a more favourable position  in this engagement. Nine Indian policemen were killed during the engagement, one died later of his injuries, and seven were taken prisoner (totaling ten when including the reconnaissance team). One Chinese soldier was killed in the engagement. The Chinese detachment belonged to the 6th Cavalry Regiment. The detained personnel were put in a storage pit for four days under several climatic conditions, interrogated in 12 hour stretches for further several days, made to sign false confessions, window-dressed for photographs, and finally returned to India on 14 November. Scholar John Rowland states that, through these means, China obtained the "evidence  it needed to claim that it was India that broke Panchsheel (peace agreement between the two countries). Indian media described the event as a brutal massacre of an Indian police party." The incident contributed to the heightening of tensions that led to the Sino-Indian War in 1962. Military posts and infrastructure. The Indian border post is located to the west of Kongka Pass at Hot Springs. The Chinese border outpost is located a few kilometers to the east at an elevation of . Called Kongka Shankou base, it is located at the junction of the Kyapsang and Chang-Chenmo rivers . The outpost is linked to the China National Highway 219 (G219) via two highways. The Indian government has noted that the original versions of these roads were built during 1959–1962. In addition to these, a Tiankong Highway () or Tianwendian–Kongka Highway, appears to have been constructed between 2013 and 2020. It passes through territory marked as being on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control by the US Office of the Geographer in 2013. It is a mountain road that runs till the Tianwendian post in the Depsang Plains. It runs parallel to the Line of Actual Control  and passes through Nischu and Heweitan. It also connects to the "Wen Jia Way", which leads to the Galwan Valley.