Aksai Chin is an arid region divided between India and China, mostly controlled by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and partly in Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet and constituting the easternmost portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and China since 1959. It is claimed by India as part of its Leh District, Ladakh Union Territory.
Daulat Beg Oldi is a traditional campsite and current military base located in the midst of the Karakoram Range in northern Ladakh, India. It is on the historic trade route between Ladakh and the Tarim Basin, and is the last campsite before the Karakoram Pass. It is said to be named after Sultan Said Khan, who died here on his return journey from an invasion of Ladakh and Kashmir. Chip Chap River, the main headwater of the Shyok River, flows just to the south. The Line of Actual Control with Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin is five miles to the east.
Demchok (Tibetan: བདེ་མཆོག, Wylie: bde mchog, THL: dem chok, ZYPY: dêmqog), is a village in the Zhaxigang Township, Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. India disputes the status and claims it as part of the Demchok sector that it regards as part of Ladakh.
Kangxiwar is the location of a deserted town on the southwest side of the Kunlun Mountains. It is on the bank of the Karakash River in the western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is also the base of the route to Hotan from the Karakash valley via the Hindutash pass. According to Chinese sources, Kangxiwar means "place with mine" in Uyghur.
The Depsang Plains, a high-altitude gravelly plain in the northwest portion of the disputed Aksai Chin region of Kashmir, divided into Indian and Chinese administered portions by a Line of Actual Control. India controls the western portion of the plains as part of Ladakh, while the eastern portion is controlled by China and claimed by India. The Line of Control with Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan is 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of the Depsang Plains with the Siachen Glacier in-between. Ladakh's traditional trade route to Central Asia passed through the Depsang Plains, with the Karakoram Pass lying directly to its north.
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.
The 2013 Depsang standoff, also called 2013 Depsang incursion, or 2013 Daulat Beg Oldi incident, was an incursion and sit-in by a platoon-sized contingent of the Chinese PLA in the dry river bed of Raki Nala, in the Depsang Bulge area, 30 km south of Daulat Beg Oldi near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the disputed Aksai Chin region. Indian forces responded to the Chinese presence by quickly establishing their own encampment 300 metres (980 ft) away. Negotiations between China and India lasted nearly three weeks, during which the Chinese position was supplied by trucks and supported by helicopters. The dispute was resolved on 5 May, after which both sides withdrew. As part of the resolution, the Indian military agreed to refrain from constructing bunkers 250 km away in the Chumar sector, which the Chinese perceived as threatening. The Chinese military in July 2014 acknowledged the incursion at the Depsang Valley in Ladakh region and said that such incidents occurred due to differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control.
The Galwan River flows from the disputed Aksai Chin area administered by China to the Union Territory of Ladakh, India. It originates near the caravan campsite Samzungling on the eastern side of the Karakoram range and flows west to join the Shyok River. The point of confluence is 102 km south of Daulat Beg Oldi. Shyok River itself is a tributary of the Indus River, making Galwan a part of the Indus River system.
The Chip Chap River is a tributary of the Shyok River that flows from the disputed Aksai Chin region administered by China to Ladakh in India. It originates at the eastern edge of the Depsang Plains and flows west, skirting around the Depsang Plains in the north. It discharges into the Shyok River, forming one of the upstream tributaries of the Indus River.
Tianshuihai, alternately spelled Tien Shui Hai, is a salt water lake in the disputed Aksai Chin region administered by China as part of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, which is also claimed by India. The lake's basin is a small plain, formerly known as the Thaldat basin or Mapothang. The lake drains the Thaldat stream that flows from the southwest. It is located east of the Lokzhung Range and northwest of the Aksai Chin Lake.
Karachukar Valley or Chalachigu Valley is a valley in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Xinjiang, China. It contains the basin of the Karachukar River, a tributary of the Tashkurgan River, and is regarded as part of Taghdumbash Pamir. The valley borders Afghanistan to the west and northwest, Tajikistan to the north, and Pakistan to the south. The name of the valley is from Kyrgyz, meaning "black cave".
Border Personnel Meeting points are locations along the disputed Sino-Indian territories on Line of Actual Control (LAC) where the armies of both countries hold ceremonial and practical meetings to resolve border issues and improve relations. While border meetings have been held since the 1990s, the first formal Border Personnel Meeting point was established in 2013. There are five meeting points: two in the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh, one in Sikkim, and two in Arunachal Pradesh in India's Central and Eastern sectors.
Heweitan is the location of a Chinese border outpost in the region of Aksai Chin that is controlled by China but disputed by India. According to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, it is the highest border outpost in the country.
The Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road, also called the Sub-Sector North Road, is a strategic all-weather road in eastern Ladakh in India, close to the Line of Actual Control with China. It connects Ladakh's capital city Leh, via the villages of Darbuk and Shyok at southern Shyok River Valley, with the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) post near the northern border. The 220-km long section between Shyok and DBO was constructed between 2000 and 2019 by India's Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The DS-DBO Road has reduced the travel time between Leh to DBO from 2 days to 6 hours. In January 2023, BRO announced that it is constructing the DSDBO tunnel on this route.
Chakgang, or Jaggang (Tibetan: ལྕགས་སྒང, Wylie: lcags sgang; Chinese: 甲岗; pinyin: Jiǎ gǎng, often transliterated Jiagang), is a village in the Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It is on a wide plain at a major junction in the Maga Zangbo valley where several tributary streams join the river. It is traditionally known for its barley cultivation. The area was used as a base for Chinese military operations in the Demchok sector in the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
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 has remained under Chinese occupation since the 1962 Sino-Indian War. The area is immediately to the south of the Depsang Plains and encloses the basin of the Burtsa Nala, 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 Indian territory, threatening India's strategic road.
The Jeong Nala, also called Jiwan Nala and Nacho Chu, and called Xidagou by China, is a tributary of the Shyok River that flows from the disputed Aksai Chin region administered by China to Ladakh in India. It originates at the eastern edge of the Karakoram Range and flows west. It merges with the Murgo Nala coming from the north just before joining the Shyok River near Sultan Chushku.
