evidence: The Ladakh region is strategically valuable to China and India. For Beijing, its control of the Aksai Chin area, which borders Ladakh, provides the only road links between the Xinjiang and Tibet provinces and is essential to China’s territorial integrity.79 China’s possession of the Shaksgam area of Ladakh allows Beijing to connect these provinces with Pakistan to support its Belt and Road Initiative.80 For New Delhi, the region’s rugged terrain provides a bulwark against potential Chinese attacks. Additionally, both India and China see defending their territorial claims as vital to maintaining their states’ integrity.81 As a result, both India and China have taken various steps to improve road access to their forward areas, increase the quantity and quality of outposts, and improve their forces’ ability to operate in the high-altitude regions around the LAC to defend their claimed territory. The map illustrates the disputed Ladakh area. [...] 90 Ankit Panda, "China Issues Statement Condemning Indian Decision to Bifurcate Kashmir," The Diplomat, August 7, 2019, available at <https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/china-issues-statement-condemning-indian-decision-to-bifurcate-kashmir/>; Press Trust of India, "Article 370: China Says Opposed to Ladakh as Union Territory," India Today, August 6, 2019, available at <https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/china-reaction-jammu-kashmir-article-370-1577915-2019-08-06>; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Remarks on the Indian Government’s Announcement of the Establishment of the Ladakh Union Territory Which Involves Chinese Territory," August 6, 2019, available at <https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2535_665405/t1686549.shtml>.