Updated: November 18, 2020 3:48:13 pm
Soldiers on a road leading to Ladakh. (Reuters / Archive)
The Indian military on Wednesday dismissed reports that China had used ‘microwave weapons’ in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese soldiers are located. locked in a border showdown during the last six months.
“Media articles on the use of microwave weapons in eastern Ladakh are unfounded. The news is FALSE, ”the Indian army said in a tweet.
A report published in the British newspaper The times it had claimed that Chinese forces had converted two strategic hills occupied by Indian soldiers “into a microwave oven”, forcing them to retreat and allowing positions to be retaken without a conventional exchange of fire.
Articles in the media on the use of microwave weapons in eastern Ladakh are without foundation. The news is FALSE. pic.twitter.com/Lf5AGuiCW0
– ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) November 17, 2020
The report was based on claims made by Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. He claimed that the weapons were said to have been deployed at the end of August. It was during this time that the Indian troops surprised the Chinese by occupying commanding heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso and in the largest subsector of Chushul.
“Within 15 minutes of the deployment of the weapons, everyone occupying the hills began to vomit. They couldn’t stand up, so they fled. This is how we got back on the ground ”, the professor would have said during a conference.
India’s insistence on the status quo ante, that troops return to their April locations, and China’s reluctance to withdraw, especially on the north shore of Pangong, has caused the two sides to deploy thousands of troops, tanks, artillery and air assets in the region. According to India, the LAC passes through Finger 8 on the north shore of Pangong Tso. In May, Chinese troops reached 8 km to the west, up to finger 4.
After an initial round of retreat in early July, the Chinese fell back from the base of finger 4 to finger 5, and Indian troops moved to finger 3. But the Chinese refused to vacate the crest of finger 4 and have been there ever since. .
After the recent Corps Commander-level talks in Chushul on November 6, China proposed moving its troops back to Finger 8 and returning the troops from the two sides to their original locations on the southern shore of the lake. The proposal also includes moving tanks and artillery to depth areas on both sides to reduce the chances of any incident in one region.
What are microwave weapons?
Microwave weapons are electromagnetic weapons and are so named because they have an effect similar to that of an oven. The weapon works by heating the water molecules under the skin, much like the kitchen appliance, to painful temperatures, forcing people to leave the area. The weapon, also used for crowd control, can be used to target up to 0.6 miles.
According to The Daily Mail, China had first displayed its microwave weapon, called the Poly WB-1, at an airshow in 2014. In addition to China, the United States has also developed microwave-style weapons, called the Active Denial System.
It was reportedly deployed to Afghanistan, but was removed without ever being used against human targets. The Pentagon has touted it as “the world’s first directed energy non-lethal counterpersonnel system with an extended range greater than that of currently deployed non-lethal weapons.”
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