Writing in The Print (May 30) Snehesh Alex Philip wrote that fresh construction activity of blacktopping of a motorable road by the Chinese has been spotted happening around Finger 4, a disputed territory. It explained the 134 km of Pangong lake’s northern bank juts out like a palm, and the various protrusions are identified as “fingers” to demarcate territory. While India asserts that the LAC (Line of Actual Control) starts at Finger 8, China claims it starts at Finger 2, which India dominates. In 1999, during the Kargil War when Indian forces were diverted, the Chinese had stepped in and built a track up to Finger 5, but this was not completely blacktopped. Chinese troops have now stepped into the disputed ‘Finger’ area, which witnessed fist fights and stone-pelting on the evening of 5 May. The Print also reported on 10 May that additional troops were pressed into the area. It quoted sources saying the Chinese have dug up a moat-kind of structure and also blocked the route of Indian patrols with two bulldozers. It said on May 29 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his US counterpart Dr Mark T. Esper that it would use “existing bilateral mechanism” to ease tensions with China along the LAC in Ladakh, after US President Donald Trump offered to play mediator.