Perhaps not a single tourist who visited Ladakh has given a miss to this beautiful lake. After all, it is here only that Rancho (Aamir Khan) meets his lost love and Chatur ,who is outwitted by Phunsok Wangdu, and has to lower his trousers to say “Jahanpanah Tussi Great Ho” (‘Jahanpanah, you are great’).

While most of you would have enjoyed the tranquil beauty of the lake and marvelled at its image of changing colours, many of you would not be aware of the fact that the 3 Idiots lake is a bone of contention between India and China. Though the Indian Army does not seem to be perturbed, the tranquil Pangong-Tso lake has become a focus of Chinese attempts at intrusions.

Pangong lake is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing lakes of Ladakh. Situated at an altitude of 4,350 meters above sea level in the northeast, some 140 kms from capital Leh, and near Chushul Mountains across the Changla Pass, Pangong is around six km wide and over 144 km long. About 40 per cent of the lake lies in India while the rest is on the other side of the border.

Truly, they say – “You have to see it to believe it” with its crystal clear, calm water which keeps changing colour in seven distinct shades of blue, green, purple, turquoise and violet depending on the angle you look at it; the shores of the lake are white with the salt deposited by the lake's brackish water, the reflection of the surrounding golden coloured chiseled peaks spread before you, its beauty mesmerises the visitors. Indeed, it is a panorama of spectacular dimensions. Being transparent to a certain depth, one can easily pick pebbles from under the water.

Though the lake has become popular among tourists only after 3 Idiots, it had become a favourite shooting locale among producers and directors for many music videos, ad films, and some Bollywood films since two decades. Noted film director Mani Ratnam had already highlighted this lake in his film Dil Se when Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala danced to the beautiful melodies of A.R. Rehman in his famous song “Dil Se Re…”

Pangong Tso (Pangong means “extensive concavity” and Tso” in Ladakhi means “Lake”) is a remnant of the ice age. It is also the largest brackish water lake in Asia. Sprawling over both Ladakh and Tibetan territory, strategic Pangong lake is bisected by the international border between India and Tibet (China). Most of the fresh water enters the lake from the Tibetan side. The lake was once divided between Ladakh and Tibet as early as 1684 under the Treaty of Tingmosgang signed between the King of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal, and the Reagent of Tibet.

Though the LAC with China is not well defined (as is the case with Indo-Pak Line of Control), there is also no agreement on depicting it on mutually acceptable maps. Even though China has intruded across the LAC and has been constructing roads in this strategically important region of Ladakh, India does not seem to perceive any immediate threat to its territorial integrity from this serene lake region along the Sino-Indian border.

Although Chinese officials claim that the activity is confined to their side of the LAC and is part of their government’s plan to develop the backward Tibetan region, intelligence reports say that they have built a good network of roads in eastern Ladakh well within the Indian territory. Meanwhile, both the Indian and Chinese officials are playing it cool.

A few years ago, China had rammed and disabled two Indian patrol boats on Pangong lake. Sources at the Indian Army have confirmed that the China’s Peoples Republican Army continues to violate the LAC in this strategic eastern part of Ladakh.

Besides constructing a good network of roads on “their side of the LAC”, the Chinese have also been using this placid lake to spread message of Communism in this part of India through pamphlets.

About 20 years ago, a Chinese submarine had come into Indian territory via the lake and distributed literature glorifying Chinese Communism in the villages of Mann and Mirak. In 1988 too, some Chinese boats had entered Indian territory.

This year in August, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, deployed along the country’s border with China announced formation of its water wing to man lakes, rivers and hot springs in the Himalayan region. The water wing will help the border force to man the Pangong lake. The newly-formed water wing will have strength of a little over 100 personnel led by a Commandant. It will be equipped with mechanised and inflatable boats which will help the force maintain round-the-clock vigil of water bodies along the border and Line of Actual Control.