It did not come as a total surprise to Indian political and military leaders when Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Army units moved to their forward positions along the Sino-Indian border in Ladakh and elsewhere after their summer exercises, in early May 2020. After all, with the experience of the CCP’s perfidy on the border dating to 1959, and played out regularly over the past sixty years, such deceit is only to be expected from the growing totalitarian hegemon on the world stage. The Communist Party of China (CPC), which globally finds itself under severe criticism for its dereliction in containing the Coronavirus pandemic, possibly calculated that India would be too overawed to resist the moves, at a time when the pandemic has gripped the nation and other major powers.
In end May 2020, per established mechanisms for border management, talks were held between senior military commanders on both sides following a comprehensive assessment of the extent of CCP Army deployments. The level of talks was steadily scaled up and on June 7, Lt General Harinder Singh, the Leh-based 14 Corps Commander, led a 10-member Indian team at the Moldo-Chushul border to meet his counterpart, South Xinjiang Military District Commander Major General Liu Lin, who led the CCP Army delegation. It was agreed by both Commanders not to let the matter escalate further and continue the talks for disengagement and de-escalation at subordinate commander levels. However, it soon became clear that the CCP had different plans and were not sincere in their promises in scaling back from their forward positions. While this was not unexpected, what possibly the CCP did not wager for, however, was the resolute response of the Indian side to their provocations.
On June 15, the CCP Army troops displayed their ulterior designs at Galwan when a patrol led by the Commanding Officer of 16 BIHAR Regiment went to verify the situation on ground regarding Chinese de-escalatory actions. In the ensuing violent clash which followed a CCP Army attack on the patrol, India lost 20 of its gallant soldiers, but not before giving a bloody nose to the CCP Army squadron deployed at Galwan, which suffered scores of casualties but the number has not been revealed by Beijing for the fear of domestic loss of face.
On June 17, India’s External Affairs Minister, Mr S. Jaishankar spoke to State Councillor and Foreign Minister of the CCP, Mr. Wang Yi, conveyed the protest of the Government of India in the strongest terms on the violent face-off in Galwan and reminded the CCP the agreement reached between the military commanders on de-escalation and disengagement. Mr Jaishankar underlined to his counterpart that the unprecedented incident at Galwan have a serious impact on the bilateral relationship and emphasised that the need of the hour was for the CCP to reassess its actions and take corrective steps.
In true democratic traditions, Prime Minister Modi visited Ladakh in early July. He reposed full faith in the ability of the Indian armed forces and underlined that were fully capable of defending and securing the country’s borders. He highlighted that the entire country was angry and hurt by actions of CCP Army troops at Galwan, on the Line of Actual Control, in which 20 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. During his address at Nimu, the sacrifice of Indian soldiers was prominently highlighted by the Prime Minister, emphasising that it will never be forgotten by the nation. Adding that the Forces have been given autonomy to act at the operational level, he brought out that dedicated efforts to upgrade infrastructure at the border areas has facilitated better patrolling and this has resulted in more checking of CCP’s military activities along the border.
Prime Minister Modi addressed key issues of national resolve and concluded by saying that India has never succumbed to external pressure on any issue and this time too would not succumb to any pressure. This was soon followed by an announcement that the Chinese Communist Party had decided to disengage from Ladakh in a calibrated and drawn-out manner.
However, on August 29, CCP Army troops stationed in Pangong Tso tried to alter the status quo by advancing into the Indian side during the night. This was detected by the Indian troops who pushed back the CCP troops. It is now apparent that the CCP Army cannot be trusted and the Indian Armed Forces are maintaining complete readiness for any such unilateral actions by the CCP military.
It is important to remember that the true strength of a nation lines in the solidarity which people show in times of crisis. CCP’s autocratic political system lends it the advantage of monochromatic uniformity and the ability to articulate national narratives in one voice, to intimidate its adversaries. Such artificial constructs gain strength on cleverly crafted deceit and make-believe, couched in legitimacy derived from centrally concentrated power, in this case the CCP, led by Xi Xinping. To pull the carpet beneath the feet of this hubris filled Dragon, the Indian Elephant will have to display the wisdom and patience characteristic of an ancient civilisation. The perseverance necessary to defeat CCP’s inimical designs must stand on the strong legs of unity, patriotism, solidarity and sacrifice.
India has already demonstrated strong resolve to overcome the crisis created by the Chinese Corona Virus and is steadily controlling the pandemic. A similar but much stronger resolve by the nation will eventually see the back of the intruding troops of the CCP Army, who are mere pawns in the hands of an unprincipled, exploitative regime at Beijing, mindlessly pursuing hegemony and world domination.
