Question

Where exactly is Aksai Chin?

A. Near Leh

B. The north east of Jammu and Kashmir

C. Along the Zanskar mountains

D. South of the Siachen glaciers

Answer 1

Hint: Aksai Chin is one of the major boundary issues that exist in South Asia. It is considered as the integral part of India but claimed by China. Aksai Chin is now one of the big boundary tensions of India.

Complete answer:

In the northernmost portion of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia, Aksai Chin is an integral part of Indian territories. It is part of the Union territory of Ladakh ( earlier was part of Jammu & Kashmir state ) and lies in the north-east of Jammu and Kashmir which is now a Union territory. This region of Aksai Chin is claimed by China and thus creates a territory issue between both the countries. 

Geographically, Aksai Chin is an extension of the Tibet Plateau to the southwest. Aksai Chin consists largely of a high, isolated, inhospitable, and mostly uninhabitable plain with an average elevation of some 17,000 feet (5,180 metres), bordered by the Karakoram Range to the west and southwest and the Kunlun Mountains to the north and northeast. To the northwest, the landscape is more rocky, while in the east, there is internal drainage into small alkaline lakes. The climate is cold and dry, with the city getting much of the little precipitation occurring in the July and August summer months.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: Aksai Chin was a neglected corner of the subcontinent for a long time because of its remoteness and isolation, but the Chinese constructed a military road through it in the 1950s in order to connect Tibet with Xinjiang. One of the reasons contributing to sharp border battles between the two nations in 1962 was the Indian discovery of the road and objection to the Chinese involvement in the industry.