Monthly Archives: August 2018

On the 12th anniversary of his death on June 27, the nation would do well to remember the extraordinary life and times of the legendary army chief Sam Manekshaw.

I remember an incident in December 1971, which underscores the rapport the army chief had with his men and his indomitable valour. Such a long time ago but not long enough for me to forget even an hour of those days. I was then a lieutenant colonel commanding the 5/8 Gorkha Rifles, which belonged to Sam Manekshaw’s regiment, the 8 Gorkha Rifles. He was proudly referred by the soldiers as Sam Bahadur.

We were deployed in the Chhamb sector where the most ferocious fighting of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war took place. While the operations against the Pakistan army in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) were launched by the Indian Army after Pakistan’s atrocities against the Bengalis in East Bengal and everyone’s attention was on it, Pakistan launched a pre-emptive attack in the Western Theatre in Chhamb.

By now, it was a full blown war. Pakistan had some initial successes due to the surprise factor and overran the brigade defending Chhamb. By this time, the Indian Army had reacted and deployed the 68 Brigade to defend the line of Munnawar Tawi by occupying the East Bank of the Tawi. While the Tawi was not deep and the infantry could wade through it in most areas, there were only two possible crossings for tanks near the Chhamb Bridge over Tawi and the other about three kilometres south opposite a village called Darh. My battalion was deployed to defend the Chhamb crossing and another battalion was deployed to defend the Darh crossing. I had already demolished the bridge.

That night the Pakistanis attacked Darh with tanks and after fierce fighting they were able to establish a bridge head at Darh by the morning. While the reserve forces of our Brigade were able to prevent the bridge head from going deeper, Pakistan was rapidly building up more forces in the bridge head during the day and it was assessed that during the night they would be able to have sufficient forces to launch a thrust towards Akhnoor about 25 KM east of Chhamb where the bridge over the Jammu Tawi was located. Its loss would have severed the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from India and enabled Pakistan to attack Jammu from the rear, thus cutting off J & K from India.

Consequently the divisional commander ordered me to launch a counter-attack supported by a squadron of T-72 tanks of the 7/2 Armed Regiment. I launched the counter-attack soon after sundown in the darkness and after very fierce fighting and heavy casualties on both sides we succeeded and drove the Pakistani forces back across the Tawi. The progress of our action was being monitored by an anxious army headquarters and the chief of the army staff General Manekshaw was informed immediately. He was away at the Eastern Theatre overseeing the operations against East Bengal which led to an eventual surrender.

The first thing next morning, Sam Bahadur was with us. He had come personally to compliment the soldiers for their brave action. He insisted on going right up to the forward positions. The subedar sahib cautioned that going up to the forward positions would draw enemy fire, especially if they had any inkling of who was in the field. Sam nonchalantly waved aside the objection saying: “Don’t worry, let them know that I am here. They wouldn’t want to tangle with me. In any case they are bad shots and will probably miss me.” Then striding forward he looked back at the subedar sahib and said with a twinkle in his eye. “Now, you be careful, sahib, they might get you instead.” With that, off we went to the forward positions. The Pakistani soldiers were still on the ridges above and looking down at us. For whatever reason no one fired even one shot. Throughout the light-hearted camaraderie of those hours with Sam, the men could see the steel behind those green eyes and it left them with renewed resolve and hope.

Lt General AS Kalkat was army commander & former commander Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), Sri Lanka. He is the first person in India to be awarded the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal, the highest award for leadership in war and conflict.

The views expressed are personal

Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is back to his old tricks, or, to be more precise, two inter-related tricks of jingoistic anti-Indian nationalism and internal anti-Madhesi chauvinism. The first tool in his playbook is building up resentment against India, ramping up nationalistic fervour, and projecting himself as the saviour of the Nepali nation which India is out to target. The passage of an amendment to ratify a new Nepali map with territory claimed and controlled by India was one recent step in this direction. His claim on Sunday that India is out to topple his government — with no evidence — is another step.

Two, Mr Oli also taps into a mindset which sees the Madhesis — Nepali citizens of the southern plains, the Tarai — who share extensive kinship ties with people across the border in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as a “fifth column”, more loyal to India than to Nepal. This is why he ensured that the Constitution did not have equitable power-sharing arrangements. And that is why Nepali ultra-nationalists portray extensive cross-border marriages as somewhat dangerous to Nepal and its current demography — conspiracy theories of Nepal’s “Fiji-isation” and eventual “Sikkim-isation” are conjured up. A current bill in Nepal’s parliament, which would make it more difficult for those who have married Nepali citizens from obtaining citizenship is a step in this direction and will deal a blow to the close people-to-people ties between the two countries.

These two tricks are essential for Mr Oli to overcome his real political challenges. His government has been an abysmal failure in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. He faces challenges from within his own party. Despite a strong mandate, he has done little to deliver on his promise of economic development. And he presides over one of the most corrupt governments in Nepal in recent years, with crony capitalism at its peak. He also gets away because of the backing of the one external power that is today micro-managing Nepali politics, and saved his government by mediating between internal communist party factions just two months ago: China. If Mr Oli is truly a nationalist, he should worry about the Chinese penetration in every sphere of the Nepali polity. But that won’t happen. India needs to keep a careful watch on developments in Nepal, recognise the threat Mr Oli poses, quietly work with its friends and allies in Kathmandu to build a more inclusive polity, let the communist government collapse under the weight of its contradictions, and make it clear that with his actions and statements, PM Oli has left little scope for meaningful engagement

China earlier this month had deployed martial art trainers and members of a mountain club in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which borders India, state media reports said Sunday.

No specific reason was given in the state media reports about the new deployment but it was done during the ongoing border tension with India, which began in early May, and escalated into a deadly brawl earlier this month.

Incidentally, bilateral agreements between India and China prevent the use of guns along the line of actual control (LAC).

On the night of June 15 – the day the new troops presented themselves in Lhasa, the capital of TAR – at least 20 Indian army soldiers were killed in a clash with PLA troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

China has admitted that PLA suffered casualties but is yet to reveal the numbers.

No guns were used in the clash but soldiers from both sides fought hand-to-hand with rocks, batons and clubs.

Among the newly deployed personnel and five new militia divisions are former members of a Mount Everest Olympic torch relay team and fighters from a mixed martial arts club.

Interestingly, a leading Chinese military had recently praised the Indian mountain army as the best in the world.

“Mountaineering is an essential skill for almost every member of the Indian mountain army. To this end, India even recruited a large number of professional mountaineers and amateur mountaineers from the private sector,” wrote Huang Guozhi, senior editor of Modern Weaponry magazine in an article this month.

The new troop deployment was reported by national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) and the PLA’s official military newspaper China National Defence News.

Tibet commander Wang Haijiang said the Enbo Fight Club recruits would “greatly raise the organisation and mobilisation strength” of troops and their “rapid response and support ability,” the newspaper reported.

The new troops were recruited with the aim of “strengthening the border and stabilising Tibet,” the Chinese newspaper reported.

Wang had visited India in 2018 for the Sino-India “Hand-in-Hand” counter-terrorism exercise in Pune.

In his comments, Wang did not confirm the new deployment was linked to the ongoing border tensions.

Chinese state media have in recent weeks highlighted PLA’s drills held in TAR.

An infantry battalion, for example, had carried out extensive drills with tanks and armed airborne personnel at heights over 15000 feet in TAR, the PLA had reported earlier in June.

The rare announcement by PLA did not specify when the drill was held but said it was the armed forces’ Xizang (Tibet) Military Command that organised the exercise at heights over 4700 metres.

The Xizang Military Command falls under the Chengdu Military region.

New Delhi has rejected Beijing’s accusations that it was the Indian army, which provoked the tension and the violent clash.

Explaining the context of the standoff and the issues the two sides are trying to address, external affairs ministry spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava said in a statement: “At the heart of the matter is that since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC. This is not in accordance with the provisions of our various bilateral agreements, especially the key 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas.”

There is now no doubt that China will remain India’s greatest strategic threat in the decades to come. Beijing is not just interested in taking control of strategic areas or in stopping India’s infrastructure build-up at the border. As is visible in the statements emerging from retired officials and its State-controlled media, China wants to send a message to India — to accept Chinese dominance in the Asian hierarchy of power, stop deepening the partnership with the United States, and reconcile to a curtailed global role .

New Delhi cannot do this, for its own national interests are at stake. While there is a need for a diplomatic reset, enhanced military capabilities and economic policies to reduce dependence on China, one other area which requires greater investment is the expertise on China in India. India is too dependent on a very limited set of retired diplomats and military officials who have engaged with China, select intelligence officials and diplomats who speak Mandarin, and a small set of academics outside government. This is not tenable. To understand Chinese motivations better, India needs more experts on the decision-making apparatus in China, the functioning of the Chinese Communist Party, the dynamic between the party and the People’s Liberation Army, China’s economic drivers and changing social dynamics, and its quest for digital dominance. For this, India must invest in language training, field visits, fellowships, and dedicated institutes. To battle China, understand it better.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi recently stated that 20 jawans were martyred but not before they taught a lesson to those who had dared to raise an eye towards “Bharat Mata”. PM assured the nation that, today, it has the capability that no one could eye even an inch of its territory. He suggested that the infrastructure in the border areas had improved greatly, leading to heightened patrolling and close monitoring of movements at the border. PM also made it clear that India would respond firmly to any attempts to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China has always made a creeping annexation part of its policy towards India. The Congress, when in power, turned a blind eye to the encroachment on India’s territories by the Chinese through continuous transgressions and border violations. Though the country entered into as many as six bilateral agreements in 1988, 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012 and 2013, it did not address the dispute over LAC. When the Chinese intruded and pitched tents deep inside India’s territory at Depsang, in 2013, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh merely spoke in Parliament about the Chinese having a different perception about LAC. Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) were misused by the Chinese to resort to psychological warfare and “salami slicing”. This is because, after 1962, defence forces were neglected and infrastructure was shoddy.

After Modi assumed power, strengthening infrastructure became a national priority. Today, there has been a great leap in infrastructure development at the Indo-China border on the Indian side which has served as a deterrent to China. Had the infrastructural development started in past regimes, India would have been in a more dominant position today. After 2014, India created a strong road network through the Border Roads Organisation and the Central Public Works Department despite the small window, during the year, for construction, due to the harsh winter. The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) has been allocated ~784 crore in the fiscal year 2020-2021. BADP stipulates that “10% of the total allocated funds will be additionally allocated to the states/Union territories abutting Indo-China Border (Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand) for taking up works in the districts abutting Indo-China border”. The creation of infrastructure “would help integrate these area with the hinterland, create a positive perception of care by the country and encourage the people to stay or in the border areas leading to safe and secure border” as per the ministry of home affairs.

Infrastructure has developed on all borders through the comprehensive Integrated Border Management Systems — be it border out posts, border fencing, mobile towers, the use of technology at the border and lighting. On the Indo-Tibet border, roads, helipads, tunnels and bridges have been built.

At the same time, there has been an increase in patrolling — be it long-range patrols, short-range patrols or joint patrols by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. India has held its ground in several face-offs. Regular patrols also enable us to assess China’s activities, identify features of tactical importance, dominate infiltration routes, corroborate inputs and assert our presence. Post-2014, our patrols have been actively engaging, confronting and preventing any incursions. We have not allowed any construction activity in our territory within LAC. In Doklam, India stalled the construction of a road by the Chinese, which would have adversely affected the nation’s strategic interests. It is only after this that China became more wary of India’s diplomatic and military might.

PM Modi’s policy towards China has been a judicious mix of diplomatic, military and economic options. He and President Xi Jinping have had as many as 18 summit meetings over the past six years, including two informal meetings at Mamallapuram and Wuhan. Several meetings have been held at different levels. The 15th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination, was held on June 24, where India stressed on respecting LAC and both sides agreed to expeditiously implement the understanding on disengagement and de-escalation.

While diplomatic parleys should continue, it is imperative to continue the PM’s policy to strengthen both the nation’s infrastructural and military build-up to contain the Dragon if it challenges us again. No one can challenge a determined India. Though India is a peaceful nation, we will negotiate only from a position of strength. And this can happen when strong leadership under PM Modi is guiding India’s security policy based on national interests.

Top Indian and Chinese military officials will meet for the third time on Tuesday in Ladakh’s Leh district to diffuse tension along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The meeting between corp commanders is the third—first was held on June 6 and second on June 22 in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)—after border tensions erupted between both the countries in May.

The second meeting came a week after the violent face-off between soldiers from the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

Here are the details:

* This time the talks will be held in Chushul on the Indian side at 10:30am and led by corps commanders

* The Indian side could again demand the pullback of Chinese troops from several friction points and also the restoration of status quo ante in strategic areas.

* On June 22, Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, and Major General Liu Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang military region, led the meeting between delegations for nearly 11 hours. It was held a week after the June 15 brutal clash between soldiers from the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

* The marathon dialogue was held in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere and there was “mutual consensus to disengage”. “Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in eastern Ladakh were discussed and will be taken forward by both the sides,” an official, in the know of the details, had said then asking not to be named.

* During that meeting, India had demanded the pullback of Chinese troops from the Finger Area—a cluster of strategic features in the north bank of Pangong Tso—where the PLA has set up bunkers, pillboxes and observation posts.

* They said the army was also demanding the withdrawal of the PLA troops from Galwan Valley and the restoration of status quo ante in key strategic areas of in the Finger Area, Gogra Post-Hot Springs and Galwan Valley.

* On June 6, Lt Gen Singh and Maj Gen Liu led the meeting between the delegations and was the first meeting of top military officials since the two armies locked in the border standoff that began with a confrontation between rival patrols near Pangong Lake on May 5.

* After the seven-hours-long meeting, the external affairs ministry had said India and China will continue military and diplomatic contacts to resolve the stand-off along LAC.

* It “took place in a cordial and positive atmosphere”, MEA had said and added that both sides agreed to work towards peacefully resolving the situation.

Signalling that it is all for peaceful restoration of status quo ante in East Ladakh but is also prepared for the worst case scenario, the Indian Army has deployed six T-90 missile firing tanks and top-of-the-line shoulder fired anti-tank missile systems in the Galwan Valley sector. The senior military commanders from India and China are meeting at Chushul on Tuesday to work out the de-escalation and disengagement process on mutual terms.

The army’s decision to deploy the T-90 Bishma tanks was taken after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had beefed up its positions on the river bed with armoured personnel carriers and troop tents. The Indian Army is occupying the dominant heights in the sector within its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Infantry combat vehicles along with 155mm howitzers have been deployed all along 1597 km long LAC in East Ladakh with two tank regiments deployed in Chushul sector to repel any aggressive plans of the adversary through the Spanggur Gap. While Chinese PLA wants to make a deal on the LAC in this sector as part of withdrawal, the Indian Army is no mood to give an inch as the military aggression came from the Western Theatre Command of China with the intention of redefining the LAC.

According to military commanders, India is prepared for a long haul in this limited spectrum with capability of a full spectrum retaliation in case the red flag goes up. With the water temperature in the river already touching 10 below zero and the river bed temperatures more frosty than the dominant heights due to temperature inversion, it is only a matter of time when “General Winter” takes over the area and makes Chinese positions in Galwan Valley untenable.

While the PLA propaganda talks about introduction of troops trained in martial arts in the East Ladakh sector, fact is that the Chinese foot soldier is conscripted into the army for two years unlike the Indian hardy trooper who stays a minimum of 17 years. Since 1984, the Indian trooper has been trained in high altitude war to repel Pakistan Army from taking over Siachen glacier and has been sitting heights of over 15,000 feet in both Kargil as well as East Ladakh sector.

The general morale of the Indian military commanders and troops is very high with both Indian Air Force and Indian Navy deployed in highest state of alertness. Majority of Chinese PLA Air Force fighters are taking off from Hotan air base in Taklamakan desert, some 240 km from the LAC with surface to air missiles deployed to counter the Indian fighters.