Pangong Tso

Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (Tibetan: སྤང་གོང་མཚོ; Chinese: 班公错; pinyin: Bān gōng cuò; Hindi: पैंगोंग झील, romanized: Paiṅgoṅg jhīl) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of 4,225 m (13,862 ft). It is 134 km (83 mi) long and divided into five sublakes, called Pangong Tso, Tso Nyak, Rum Tso (twin lakes) and Nyak Tso. Approximately 50% of the length of the overall lake lies within Tibet administered by China, 40% in Indian-administered Ladakh, and the remaining 10% is disputed and is a de facto buffer zone between India and China. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers almost 700 km². During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. It has a land-locked basin separated from the Indus River basin by a small elevated ridge, but is believed to have been part of the Indus basin in prehistoric times.

Historically, the lake is viewed as being made up five sublakes, which are connected through narrow water channels. The name Pangong Tso only applied to the westernmost lake that is mostly in Ladakh. The main lake on the Tibetan side is called Tso Nyak (the "middle lake"). It is followed by two small lakes called Rum Tso. The last lake near Rutog is called Nyak Tso again. The whole lake group was and is still often referred to as Tsomo Nganglha Ringpo (Tibetan: མཚོ་མོ་ངང་ལྷ་རིང་པོ) in Tibetan.

There are different interpretations of the meanings of both Pangong Tso and Tsomo Nganglha Ringpo. The Ladakh government website says "Pangong Tso" is Tibetan, meaning "high grassland lake", however travel books say Pangong means "hollow". Tsomo Nganglha Ringpo is Tibetan that is interpreted to mean various different but similar meanings -- "long, narrow, enchanted lake" by Chinese media sources, "female narrow very long lake" by early European explorers, and "long-necked swan lake" by other modern sources.

Pangong Tso is surrounded by three mountain ranges: Changchenmo Range to the north, Pangong Range to the west, and Kailash Range (Gangdise Shan range) to the south. According to the Britannica, the Changchenmo Range and Pangong Range are sometimes considered easternmost part of the Karakoram Range. Kailash Range, runs along southern bank of the Pangong Tso, from centre of Pangong Tso at Lukung to the west to Phursook Bay and Mount Kailash.

Pangong Tso is disputed territory. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes through the lake. A section of the lake approximately 20 km east from the LAC is controlled by China but claimed by India. To the south is the smaller Spanggur Tso lake. The eastern end of the lake is in Tibet. After the mid-19th century, Pangong Tso was at the southern end of Johnson Line, an early attempt at demarcation between India and China in the Aksai Chin region.

Khurnak Fort lies on the northern bank of the lake, about halfway up Pangong Tso. The dispute over the fort was discussed in a 1924 conference, which remained inconclusive. After the conference, the British government decided that Tibetans had a better case and not only Khurnak Fort but also Dokpo Karpo and Nyagzu were part of Tibet. In 1929, following the protests of Kashmir Durbar, they decided to drop the British claims made in behalf of Kashmir state. The Chinese established their military presence in the Khurnak Fort by 1958.

On 20 October 1962, Pangong Tso saw military action during the Sino-Indian War, successful for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The area remains a sensitive border point along the LAC. Incursions from the Chinese side are common.

In August 2017, Indian and Chinese forces near Pangong Tso engaged in a melee involving kicking, punching, rock throwing, and use of makeshift weapons such as sticks and rods. On 11 September 2019, PLA troops confronted Indian troops on the northern bank. On 5–6 May 2020, a face-off between about 250 Indian and Chinese troops near the lake resulted in casualties on both sides.