Recent actions by the Indian military amid border tension demonstrate India’s determination to stand up to harassment from China and its efforts to use coercion to get its way, experts have said.
The armies of the two countries are very close in some areas of eastern Ladakh.
The Chinese PLA, which has not waged a war since Vietnam’s nose bleed, may have underestimated India’s determination to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Despite all their famous thinking and strategic planning, they did not take into account the bravery and courage of the Indian soldiers.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has made it clear that India was prepared to face “any situation”.
“I want to assure you that we are prepared to face any situation. I call on this House to pass a resolution in which we stand shoulder to shoulder with our armed forces protecting our borders to safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of India, ”Singh said at the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
“The violent conduct of the Chinese troops is a violation of all the previous agreements. Our troops have carried out counter-deployments in the area to safeguard our borders, ”he said.
Singh said China has mobilized a large number of Army battalions and armaments throughout LAC and inland areas.
“There are many sticking points in eastern Ladakh, Gogra, Kongka La, the northern and southern shores of Lake Pangong. The Indian Army has carried out counterattack deployments in these areas, ”he said.
The two countries have been at odds since April-May and the Chinese have refused to vacate areas in the Finger area and other sticking points in the eastern Ladakh area.
In many ways, India has shattered the myth of Chinese indomitable military might. Strategic experts acknowledge that recent developments on the India-China border have changed the argument for the so-called “power asymmetry.”
India stood on the border “ head on ” for more than four months in the face of China’s much vaunted military and economic might, a fact that the Chinese propaganda machine never fails to highlight, has shown that the asymmetry argument of power can’t take it anymore.
The mobilization of Indian forces has been effective and has a competitive advantage in mountain warfare due to the Indian Army’s experience of deploying at high altitudes.
The brave action of the Indian soldiers in the Galwan clash in June was recognized around the world.
India, which captured tactically important command heights in the top five positions south of Pangong Tso from Aug. 29-30, tipped the balance in India’s favor, experts said.
The operations to secure the heights in these characteristics were carried out by the Special Border Force (SFF) made up of Tibetans. Taking those heights could lead to the interception of Chinese forces, giving India a tactical advantage.
Experts said that Indian troops can intercept Chinese moving from Chushul to Demchok through the valleys below.
In an attempt to show its military might, the PLA has deployed 50,000 strong soldiers with modern weaponry ready to unleash its power against India. The Chinese have also made many diplomatic statements that were coercive.
These come from his Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his Ministry of Defense, his Western Theater Command and the Communist Party spokesperson Global Times. The different Chinese statements appear interventionist, prescriptive and coercive, experts said.
Consequently, China faced setbacks on the Indian front.
After the Pentagon’s annual report on China declared the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) as “the largest navy in the world” and highlighted its growing capabilities, the former director of the National Security Council Secretariat of India Tara Kartha noted that such forecasts and warnings did not affect the Indian decision to counter Chinese belligerence in Ladakh.
“For India, the warnings about Chinese aggressiveness were ‘superfluous’ given the ongoing conflict. Forecasts from a higher Chinese power did not affect Delhi’s decision to face the threat head-on, something other countries must acknowledge. China is certainly a power to be reckoned with, but it is not exactly the dragon that the Pentagon or Beijing paint, ”Kartha joked.
“There was the argument that India was a $ 2 trillion economy and China five times meant that China had a huge advantage. They have a much stronger military force, a much larger economy, higher military spending, etc., so India is no match for China – that myth has been destroyed. Concerted action by India has paid off, ”said Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
A major US publication, Newsweek, reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping has risked his future with high-profile forays into Indian territory that ‘unexpectedly failed’ in the face of a fierce counterattack by the Indian army.
The Chinese military’s failures on the Indian border will have consequences, he said, adding that “you can say that the Indians are more aggressive or more aggressively defensive, but in fact they are bolder and better. The setback in the Himalayas poses problems for Xi, which means that it represents a problem for everyone else. “
Now, the Chinese side appears to have dropped and changed course suddenly, experts said.
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