India to deploy enhanced capability boats at Pangong Lake to thwart Chinese incursions

By Sumit Kumar Singh New Delhi, Dec 4 : India will deploy boats with enhanced capabilities, including anti-ramming features, at Pangong Lake at eastern Ladakh, one of the border locations witnessing a dispute with China.
These indigenously-built boats will accommodate additional troops for carrying out patrolling in the lake where China has lately laid claims, leading a tense situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Pangong Lake’s total length is 134 km and is divided into eight ‘fingers’ — military parlance for mountain spurs jutting into a lake — that are contested by both sides.
As the lake gets frozen with the onset of the winter, the Army will deploy around two dozen such boats by next summer.
The Indian Army was looking for boats with strong capabilities to thwart Chinese incursions in the lake, and made a requisition for such boats for which it had consulted the Indian Navy. The Navy came up with designs and gave technical advice to the manufacturer, keeping in mind the capabilities needed at 14,000 feet.
These boats would be used for patrolling the lake while troops carry out foot patrols on the banks.