Khurnak Fort

Khurnak Fort
Native name Standard Tibetan: མཁར་ནག
1988 CIA map showing Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin
Coordinates	33°45′25″N 78°59′50″E / 33.75694°N 78.99722°E / 33.75694; 78.99722
Elevation	4,257 meters

The Khurnak Fort (Tibetan: མཁར་ནག, Wylie: mkhar nag, THL: khar nak)^[1] is a ruined fort on the northern shore of Pangong Lake, which spans eastern Ladakh in India and Rutog County in the Tibet region of China. The area of the Khurnak Fort is disputed by India and China, and has been under Chinese administration since 1958.

The "Khurnak Bridges" are the twin adjacent bridges over the Pangong Tso/lake, one smaller and a bigger one for the heavier vehicle, built by China to connect Khurnak Fort on the north bank to Rutog in southeast via a new road which will reduce the distance between two locations by 150 km. India claims that this bridge is illegal as it lies in the area claimed by India. It lies 20 km east of the point [Finger 8] which India perceives to be the location of LAC.^[2][3] Though the ruined fort itself is not of much significance, it serves as a landmark denoting the middle of Pangong Lake. The fort lies at the western edge of a large plain formed as the alluvial fan of a stream known as Chumesang, which falls into Pangong Lake from the north. The plain itself is called Ote Plain locally, but is now generally called the Khurnak Plain.^[4][5]