@vishwambhar
India's media & public often confuse with actual control of the land and Patrolling. Patrol doesn't mean that you control the area. Its only Army camps/installations which means the actual control.
India lost a large chunk of area (including a big portion of Depsang plains) before and during the 1962 war in the Ladakh region. When the Chinese side unilaterally declared casefire in 1962, they withdrew 20 KMs from the line of actual control in the Western sector. In response, Indian forces also came back a few KMs to create a buffer zone. This buffer zone has been patrolled by both sides. Depsang Plain is situated south of Daulat Beg Oldi (the northernmost point under Indian control) & Karakorum pass (the link between Chinese Occupied Xinjiang & Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and lies on the west of Siachen Glacier. Depsang plain is the biggest plain along LAC in Ladakh where tanks and armored vehicles can be used to fight a war. As India had built Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) road, China is trying to deny access of Depsang plains to India. China already had a good road there and now Indian has built the road and it means both sides can bring their tanks.India has an army camp in that area and the DBO road passes through the area. The DBP road construction started in 2000 and since then the Chinese side is desperate to grab land from India. During many stand-offs during UPA rule, the Chinese Army came forward in this area and both India - China decided to go back. But the Chinese Army never went back. They kept interrupting Indian patrols and as per a few news reports Indian Army has not been able to patrol the whole of Depsang Plains (which India considers it's side of LAC) in the last 10–15 years. The same thing has been happening now. Whenever Indian forces go to patrol this area, the Chinese Army stops them from going forward. Somehow they have very strong intelligence and also this is a flat plain and they come to stop the Indian side but they have not built any camp in the area claimed by India. If an area is being patrolled by two parties and controlled by none then any party can come & occupy it. China has occupied such buffer zones (claimed by both countries) in the north of Pangong Tso lake and India has done the same on the southern side of the lake. Here in Depsang plains, no area has been occupied but they are stoping Indian patrols and India has consolidated area under its control. This means China is also not able to come to their perception of LAC (they came very near to Indian camp in 2013). So, India has not lost any ground in this region which was under direct Indian control. But yes, India is not able to patrol its claim lines.Now a section of anti-Modi media & opposition parties have been trying to create a narrative that India has lost roughly 1000 sq. Km of land. First, the article appeared in The Hindu and it was picked up by the Congress party. Please check the date of the article - 31st August 2020. Around the same time, India announced that India had occupied some peaks in the south of Pangong Tso lake on the night of 29th-30th August. This was a deliberate attempt of “The Hindu” to humiliate & weaken Modi Govt. This story was then picked up by Pakistani media and you can see one the debates in Pakistani media -
Then other media houses like Indian Express[1], India Today[2] , The Print [3] etc. picked the issue and wrote articles. None of them are friendly media of BJP but they clearly state that India has not lost any ground and Indian patrols have been stopped. Some said that this has been happening for over 10–15 years. Except “The Hindu” & “The Wire” no one said that India has lost the ground. many Opposition parties (mainly Congress) have bee using the story by “The Hindu” to attack the Modi Govt. But they have failed to create a narrative that India has lost 1000 sq. KM of land and now this is clear to all of us India is facing a big challenge in the Depsang area from China