Point 5240

{{short description|Mountain peak on the Line of Control in Kashmir}}

{{engvarB|date=November 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Point 5240

| other_name = Point 5245

| photo =

| photo_caption =

| elevation_m = 5240

| prominence_m = 207

| coordinates =

| location = Line of Control, Ladakh, Kashmir

| range = Himalayas

}}

Point 5240 (also called Point 5245) is a mountain peak situated on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions of Ladakh in the Dras sector of Kargil district.{{Cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040713/edit.htm#4 |title= Point 5353 still in Pakistan's possession: India's Kargil agenda is incomplete |last=Mehta |first=Gen Ashok K. |access-date=8 June 2018 |work=The Tribune |publication-date=13 July 2014}}{{Cite book |title=A Ridge Too Far: War in the Kargil Heights 1999 |author-link=Amarinder Singh |last=Singh |first=Amarinder |publisher=Motibagh Palace |year=2001 |isbn=9788193107416 |pages=158, 164}}{{Cite book |title=Musharraf's War |last=Nath |first=Rajendra |publisher=Lancers Books |year=2003 |page=161}} It lies southeast of Point 5353,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zptCCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT130 |title=Kargil: Turning the Tide |last=Puri |first=Mohinder |publisher=Lancer Publishers LLC |year=2015 |isbn=9781940988238 |page=130}} at the end of the ridgeline, on the LoC, coming from Point 5105, one kilometre east of a feature known as Rocky Knob, about 800 metres away from the base of Point 5140.{{Cite book |title=Kargil from Surprise to Victory |author-link=Ved Prakash Malik |last=Malik |first=V. P. |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2010 |isbn=9789350293133 |page=163}}

Following the end of the Kargil War, the Indian and Pakistani local military commanders agreed to a plan to vacate Point 5240, along with two other mountains nearby — namely, Point 5353 and Point 5165 — all on the LoC. However, in late October 1999, units of 8 Mountain Division of the Indian Army captured Point 5240. They subsequently captured Point 5165 as well apparently to forestall their capture by Pakistanis. Thus, Point 5240 continues to be under Indian control.

Point 5240 provides "good" observation of the Pakistani supply route for Point 5353, according to the Indian defence ministry.B. L. Kak, [http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/archives/archives2000/kashmir20000829b.html Pakistan Troops Pose Threat To Dras-Kargil Highway], Daily Excelsior, 29 August 2000.