Context

• The 255-km Darbuk–Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road joining Leh to the Karakoram Pass, which has become a thorn in China’s flesh, has been in the making for around two decades and is expected to be completed by this year.

Details

• The road from Darbuk traverses at an altitude of 14,000 feet and reaches Shyok, the last Indian village in the region.
• Between Shyok and Karakoram Pass (that divides Ladakh from China’s Xinjiang province) lies Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO).
• From the DSDBO road, a road branches off towards Galwan Valley, a hill feature, which India wants to protect because it overlooks the area around the main road.
• The branch road has prompted the stand-off in Galwan Valley.

Location Daulat Beg Oldie

• DBO is India’s northernmost corner, which in army parlance is called Sub-Sector North, and building a road till here has been of vital importance to India.
• DBO is located only 9 km away from the Line of Actual Control with China and the road will help manage the border and the areas adjoining Aksai Chin, Chip Chap River and Jiwan Nalla.