mains 22 TS

<h1 class="ql-align-center">Pangong Tso Lake</h1> <h2>Context:</h2> <ul><li>Recently, China is constructing a bridge in Ladakh connecting the north and south banks of Pangong Tso (lake).</li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-indent-1"> Khurnak Fort, close to where China is building the new bridge, is near the halfway mark of the lake. It is also under Chinese control.</li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-indent-1">The bridge is located around 25 km ahead of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).</li></ul> <h2>About:</h2> <ul><li>Pangong Tso, which means ‘high grassland lake’, is a long boomerang-shaped endorheic (landlocked) lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet.</li></ul> <ul><li>This landlocked lake is the world’s highest saltwater lake.</li></ul> <ul><li>Situated at over 14,000 feet,&nbsp;the Lake is about 135 km long</li></ul> <ul><li>More than two-thirds are under Chinese control, while the remaining one-third of the Lake lies in India.</li></ul> <ul><li>The lake’s water, while crystal clear, is&nbsp;brackish,&nbsp;making it undrinkable.</li></ul> <ul><li>It is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.</li></ul> <ul><li>The Karakoram Mountain range, which crosses Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and India, with heights of over 6,000 meters including K2, the world’s second-highest peak, ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso. </li></ul>