Chip Chap River

File:Depsang_Plains_Survey_of_India_map_1916.png

File:Chip Chap River map.jpg (AMS, 1950)]]

The main stream of the Chip Chap River flows westwards along the northern edge of the Depsang Plains. The upper course of the river is in a relatively flat area with a drop of only 190 metres over 30 km. Several mountain streams from the south drain into the relatively stagnant pool of water in this area. Near Tianwendian more streams from the Depsang Plans join the river, bringing in water from the high mountains of Karakoram range to the west. Near the Line of Actual Control that separates the Indian- and Chinese-controlled portions of Depsang Plains, the Lungnak Lungpa stream joins from north. Another stream passing by Daulat Beg Oldi joins the river in the Indian controlled area. The combined river joins the Shyok at an elevation of 4800 m.

The 1899 British offer to China for the border in Aksai Chin (the Macartney–MacDonald Line) placed the entire course of the Chip Chap River in the Indian territory.{{sfnp|Lamb, Sino-Indian Border in Ladakh|1973|loc=pp. 108–109, map 19}} The 1956 claim line of China also did the same.

[https://catalog.gpo.gov/F/?func=direct&doc_number=001086400&format=999 The Sino-Indian border dispute: section 2: 1959-61], CIA, 1963, p.  81, map Sino-Indian Border – Chinese Claim 'Lines' of 1956 and 1960 in the Western Sector.

{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|loc=p. 93, map 5}} But by 1960, China advanced its claim line to include a major portion of the Chip Chap river, coming within 4 miles of Daulat Beg Oldi.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=95–96}}{{sfnp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=273}}

{{OSM Location map

| coord = {{coord|34.9|N|78.1|E}}

| float = right

| zoom = 8

| width = 255

| height = 350

| caption = {{center|Chip Chap River and surroundings}}

| map-data = Q230830

| minimap = file

| mini-file = India Jammu and Kashmir location map.svg

| mini-width = 100

| mini-height = 73

| minipog-x = 73

| minipog-y = 26

| scalemark = 120

| shape = image

| mark-coord2 = {{coord|35.3175|N|78.3990|E}}

| mark2 = red pog.svg

| mark-size2 = 5

| label2 = Source of |labela2 = Chip Chap

| label-size2 = 10

| label-color2 = #505050

| label-pos2 = top

| label-offset-x2 = 20 |label-offset-y2 = 0

| mark-title2 = Source of Chip Chap River

| mark-image2 =

| mark-description2 = Source of Chip Chap River

| mark-coord1 = {{coord|35.2941|N|77.7377|E}}

| mark1 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg

| mark-size1 = 10

| label1 = Shyok River

| label-size1 = 10

| label-color1 = #505050

| label-pos1 = left

| label-offset-x1 = 0 |label-offset-y1 = 0

| mark-title1 = Joining Shyok River

| mark-image1 =

| mark-description1 = Joining Shyok River

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|35.331|N|78.179|E}}

| mark3 = red pog.svg

| mark-size3 = 5

| label3 = Tianwendian

| label-size3 = 10

| label-color3 = #505050

| label-pos3 = top

| mark-title3 = Tianwendian

| mark-image3 =

| mark-description3 = Chinese post

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|35|30|48|N|77|49|23|E}}

| mark4 = Mountain pass 12x12 n.svg

| mark-size4 = 15

| label4 = Karakoram Pass

| label-size4 = 10

| label-color4 = #505050

| label-pos4 = top

| mark-title4 = Karakoram Pass

| mark-image4 =

| mark-description4 =

| mark-coord5 = {{coord|35.390|N|77.925|E}}

| mark5 = red pog.svg

| mark-size5 = 5

| label5 = Daulat Beg Oldi

| label-size5 = 10

| label-color5 = #505050

| label-pos5 = left

| mark-title5 = Daulat Beg Oldi

| mark-image5 =

| mark-description5 = Location of Indian border post

| mark-coord6 = {{coord|35.234103|N|77.977818|E}}

| mark6 = red pog.svg

| mark-size6 = 5

| label6 = Qizil Langar

| label-size6 = 10

| label-color6 = #505050

| label-pos6 = left

| mark-title6 = Qizil Langar

| mark-image6 =

| mark-description6 =

| mark-coord11 = {{coord|34.959653|N|78.561890|E}}

| mark11 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg

| mark-size11 = 10

| label11 = Karakash River

| label-size11 = 10

| label-color11 = #505050

| label-pos11 = bottom

| mark-title11 = Karakash River

| mark-image11 =

| mark-description11 = Flows into Tarim Basin

| mark-coord12 = {{coord|34.663514|N|78.591643|E}}

| mark12 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg

| mark-size12 = 10

| label12 = Galwan River

| label-size12 = 10

| label-color12 = #505050

| label-pos12 = bottom

| mark-title12 = Galwan River

| mark-image12 =

| mark-description12 = Joins the Shyok River

}}

The Chip Chap river valley played a key role in the evolution of the border conflict between China and India in 1961–62. In September 1961 India discovered that China had established a military post in the Chip Chap valley four miles east of the Indian post at Daulat Beg Oldi. China had also constructed a motorable road leading to the post. Finally, the Chinese troops attempted to capture an Indian patrol in the area. India concluded that China was attempting to extend its control to its 1960 claim line.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=95–96}}{{sfnp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=273}}

In response, the Indian government evolved a policy that came to be called the 'forward policy'. The government directed the Indian army to patrol as far towards the international border as possible, asking it to establish posts so as to prevent the Chinese from advancing any further west.{{sfnp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=275}} In March–April 1962, the Indian army created posts in the Chip Chap valley as well as Depsang Plains to prevent Chinese incursions.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=103}}{{sfnp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=285}}

In May 1962 a stand-off occurred as the Chinese troops moved toward an Indian post, giving every indication of intending to attack. The army asked if it should withdraw, but the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asked it to hold firm and not submit to the threat of force. The Chinese troops eventually withdrew.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=104}} Following a similar standoff in the Galwan valley, the commanders in Ladakh were authorised to fire on Chinese if they came too close.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=106}} This happened in September 1962. When the Chinese troops came close to one of the Indian posts, the Indians opened fire at "point-blank range", killing several men. The Indian government arranged for the bodies to be returned to the Chinese without generating any publicity.{{sfnp|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015|p=173}}{{sfnp|Maxwell, India's China War|1970|p=253}} This was perhaps the last major clash before the breakout of open hostilities on 20 October, after which all the Indian posts were attacked with major force and neutralised. By the end of the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Chinese forces had occupied all the territory up to their 1960 claim line.{{sfnp|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990|pp=76, 93}}{{efn|Mohan Guruswamy has claimed that the Chinese had occupied the area in early 1950s.{{cite web |url=http://cpasindia.org/articles/mg-05-11-21-sino-india-relations.html |title=No longer a Great Game |author=Mohan Guruswamy |publisher=Centre for Policy Alternatives, India |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016155722/http://cpasindia.org/articles/mg-05-11-21-sino-india-relations.html |archive-date=16 October 2007}} This is not corroborated by scholarly sources.}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{citation |last=Cheema |first=Brig Amar |title=The Crimson Chinar: The Kashmir Conflict: A Politico Military Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qc25BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |date=2015 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-81-7062-301-4 |pages=51– |ref={{sfnref|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015}}}}
• {{citation |first=Filippo de |last=Filippi |title=The Italian Expedition to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Eastern Turkestan (1913-1914) |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold & Co. |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43716/page/n7/mode/2up |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Filippi, The Italian Expedition|1932}}}}
• {{citation |last=Hoffmann |first=Steven A. |title=India and the China Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpSRwC5_EPUC |year=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06537-6 |ref={{sfnref|Hoffman, India and the China Crisis|1990}}}}
• {{citation |last=Lamb |first=Alastair |title=The Sino-Indian Border in Ladakh |publisher=Australian National University Press |year=1973 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/114831/2/b10941575.pdf |ref={{sfnref|Lamb, Sino-Indian Border in Ladakh|1973}}}}
• {{citation |last=Maxwell |first=Neville |author-link=Neville Maxwell |title=India's China War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=csbHAAAAIAAJ |year=1970 |publisher=Pantheon Books |isbn=978-0-394-47051-1 |ref={{sfnref|Maxwell, India's China War|1970}}}}
• {{citation |last=Raghavan |first=Srinath |title=War and Peace in Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbtBJb1bsHUC |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-00737-7 |ref={{sfnref|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010}}}}

• {{citation |title=India's Ad Hoc Arsenal |last1=Smith |first1=Chris |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=75 |isbn=978-0-19-829168-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wirzhu5EaqAC&pg=PA75}}
• {{citation |title=India's Quest for Security |last1=Kavic |first1=Lorne J. |year=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnAD5RIZtF4C&pg=PA169}}

• [http://bameduniya.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/ladakh-changing-yet-unchanged-missing.html Maps of Ladakh], Bame Duniya blogspot, 19 March 2013

{{Coord|35.275|78.186|display=title}}

{{Ladakh}}

Category:Tributaries of the Indus River

Category:Rivers of Ladakh

Category:Rivers of Xinjiang

Category:Aksai Chin