India's forces could teach China a lesson or two, this time

With the news coming in that there has been an exchange of fire along the LAC on Monday evening, the Chinese have spoken about countermeasures. In fact, the Indian Army had to fire warning shots even in the last week of August, as Chinese troops attempted to cross the 'green line' (which is the Chinese claim line since 1960) south of Pangong Tso. More so, the Chinese Army (PLA) has continued to build fortifications in the areas they've earlier occupied, even as they talk of peace. The defence ministers of India and China have just met in Russia and soon the foreign ministers will. But several rounds of talks with China have got us nowhere – as some of us had predicted – since, China is in no mood to relent or back off. But it could do a more realistic assessment of where we are at, will do Beijing some good. Also for those in India who think war is imminent, this article would be reassuring about where we are at. Students of conflicts will attest to the essential wisdom that a war doesn’t happen if a troop build-up is in place. In fact, a build up is like nuclear weapons, a deterrent. And the other reality is that politicians only resort to military options, if there are no other options, and if they would stand to gain from it! But in the case of China, it’s leadership seems adamant at going ahead with the military option as in Xi Jinping’s assessment, China has enough military power to enforce its territorial claims on India, and to deal with the challenge posed by the US. But he may just be proved very wrong.

After having enjoyed the first mover’s advantage, more so by having abandoned agreements to keep the unsettled Sino-Indian boundary peaceful, Chinese leaders and commanders are now in a spot on how to sustain their aggression, as India’s military responses – though delayed - along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, have put the Chinese in a spot. This has led to a think tank in Europe (EFSAS) stating that “India… has taken a leaf out of the Chinese book, and as per reports….taken control of some strategic heights not only on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso (lake), but also on its northern banks….” , clearly unsettling the Chinese game plan. This in fact, was always a part of the Indian military’s counter responses , as professional armies always war game every option in the battlefield. All they need is the political go-ahead and then they literally unleash their ‘dogs of war’, to borrow from the title of a Frederick Forsyth bestseller. Thus based on satellite inputs of movement of Chinese military columns to take further control of the dominating heights on the South-east of Pangong Tso, and towards the Spangur Gap and Moldo garrison, where some senior military commander level talks have taken place, Indian troops blocked China's plans to cross another part of the LAC, and then claim they've always been there!

This was done by Indian army's troops, including the secretive military unit, the Special Frontier Force (SFF) – headquartered near Dehradun – and better known within military circles, as Establishment 22. It is made up of highly motivated troops, many of whom are of Ladakhi and Tibetan stock – and trained to be lethal in mountain warfare – and it is they who moved swiftly recently to occupy the heights on the southern half of the Pangong Tso. And when the Chinese force of 200 plus came to occupy these heights, the SFF men did what they’ve been waiting to do all their lives. This SFF (Vikas) unit confronted the latest Chinese intrusion, lost a brave heart, but killed two PLA men and took – as per some reports – about 45 Chinese prisoners! The Tibetans were delighted, that this time, it was their boys that gave the Chinese a bloody nose, though the use of Tibetan soldiers (from amongst the refugees) is not admitted to, by New Delhi. But it’s also neither denied! In fact, the SFF was set up by Maj.Gen. Sujan Singh Uban, MC a World War-II legend and winner of a Military Cross, and its headquarters was named Establishment 22, after the 22nd Mountain Division, he had earlier commanded. This force now works under the PMO (Cabinet Secretariat), but is trained and commanded by the army .

So, as both sides keep asking the other side to vacate what they regard as intrusions, it would be good to take a few leaves out of the books of history. The first, is how the Chinese steadily intruded into Aksai Chin and NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) in late 1950s, and kept insisting that their understanding of the boundary was right. The Nehru government’s belief that the Chinese will not attack India, but will accept the boundaries that Pandit Nehru held as having been settled at the Simla conference in 1913-14, eventually led to them being surprised when PLA troops attacked us – as the world was busy with the Cuban missile crisis – to inflict the humiliation in the 1962 conflict. No explanation can justify how our leadership got it all wrong. Worse, in 1962, the Indian army wasn’t allowed to fight! But this time, it seems that there is a lot at stake for the Modi government, since in an open society like India, with extensive media interest in happenings on the LAC, New Delhi cannot -unlike 1962- be selective about the truth.

Much has changed since 1962. For one, the Indian army had learnt its lessons from the debacle of 1962, and it was evident in the Nathu La and Cho la episodes of 1967. In the months before the final confrontation, and fed-up with the tepid responses from New Delhi, the GoC of India’s 17 Division, Maj.Gen. Sagat Singh, decided to take matters into his own hands. He blanked out all radio/wireless calls from his superiors (especially those in Delhi) and ordered his men to open fire, when push came to shove. There was mayhem on that front line. Officially, India claimed to have lost 88 soldiers, having killed 340 Chinese. But the Chinese only admitted to losing 65 soldiers. The Chinese have been equally mum about their losses in the Galwan valley fist fight, though there are bits of information confirming that 35 to 45 Chinese army soldiers were killed in the fighting, when India lost 20 soldiers. The Chinese in fact were victims of the ‘Ghatak’ platoon men of the Indian army unit (16 Bihar). Almost all infantry units of the Indian army (of about 800 men) have a ‘Ghatak’platoon (of 36 men). These men are chosen and punishingly trained, to even kill with their bare hands. And many are hardened after years of battling terrorism in the J&K. In fact, the name, Ghatak, quite literally means lethal.

The Chinese army on the other hand, looks impressive in ceremonial parades and in doctored videos. But it has virtually no battle experience. More so, its army veterans are today openly expressing resentment at their shabby treatment, post-retirement. And in a country which has a one child policy, its soldiers are unwilling to die. India’s case is quite the opposite. A detailed analysis of the Chinese military capabilities in a YouTube video (by Defence Update on Weapons and Strategies) that is doing the rounds, shows very clearly that China is more boastful of what it can do, than what it can actually do. For instance, China’s so-called 5th generation fighters Chengdu J-20 (that aren’t meant to be visible to radars, being exceptionally hi-tech) was detected by India’s Sukhoi 30MKI fighters. And if it has a 5th generation fighter, why is China buying the Russian 4th plus generation Sukhoi-35? Also, China’s hi-tech submarines (Type 09 J-Class) are not that reliable either. Recently it was sighted near the island Hianan, even though a nuclear submarine shouldn’t emerge from its underwater patrols to be photographed by the public. Clearly, something went wrong.

All this information contradicts the systematic Chinese propaganda over the years of how the Chinese are ready to take on the world. Closer home, that is why, (people like myself), have always argued that India’s military would be glad to teach China a lesson or two this time, and put to rest the oft-stated Chinese line that they could over run our front lines, as they did in 1962. In fact, the Chinese could be in for shock – as they did in recent encounters - this time. And though the Chinese know that their earlier paramount leader, Deng Xioping, had used the guiding philosophy of China’s master strategist, Sun Tzu, who had said that: “hide your strength and bide your time”, if the latest set of events is anything to go by, then it is India that seems to have adopted this philosophy of the Chinese scholar, not the current day Chinese politico-military establishment.