While Chinese President Xi Jinping recently agreed with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “disengage and de-escalate” troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), new satellite imagery tells a different story. According to data from Maxar Technologies, a U.S.-based space company, China has been intensifying its construction activities in the Aksai Chin region, located about 70 km from the LAC, between December 2021 and August 2023.
The satellite images reveal that Chinese troops have been digging tunnels and constructing reinforced shelters and bunkers along a narrow river valley. These constructions appear to have started after 2021 and are designed to protect soldiers from aerial attacks. Earth-moving machinery and new roads are also visible in the images.
Experts who have analyzed the satellite images suggest that there are at least 11 portals or shafts bored into the rockface on both banks of the river valley. Reports indicate that the Chinese have built reinforced bunkers and underground facilities at six locations in the same region.
This construction activity comes on the heels of China’s renewed claims over the Aksai Chin region in Ladakh and the state of Arunachal Pradesh in its standard maps. Members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile have criticized China’s expansionist policy, stating that China “can never be trusted.”
Damien Symon, a leading satellite imagery expert with The Intel Lab, believes that China’s underground constructions aim to counter the advantage that the Indian Air Force brings to the region. He also noted that China appears to be “digging in for the long haul.”
China appears to be going underground in Aksai Chin, likely as it looks to offset the advantage the Indian Air Force brings to the playing field, this shift in strategy unfortunately also means, they are digging in for the long haul https://t.co/PcOdMbNUJ0
— Damien Symon (@detresfa_) August 29, 2023
Since the Galwan clash in 2020, India has also been increasing its construction activities in the Ladakh region, including road and tunnel construction, to secure its borders. However, China’s refusal to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok regions, despite numerous rounds of commander-level talks, raises questions about its intentions.
China has not only been increasing its construction activities but has also upgraded its air bases facing India, adding new and extended runways, hardened shelters, and fuel storage facilities.
The new developments indicate that despite diplomatic talks, China has no clear intentions of disengaging at the LAC, thereby complicating the already tense India-China border situation.
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