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.”