hard stance!
Date :23-Jun-2020
THAT New Delhi hardened its stance in eastern Ladakh, was a foregone conclusion. This step -- the directive by Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh -- of asking the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Force to be fully prepared for any “unprecedented action” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), is absolutely in line with the idea of a systematic and appropriate alteration in the Rules of Engagement (RoE) with the Chinese. The Government has also given a blanket permission and freedom to the Armed Forces to use firearms if the need arose. These steps create a sense of assurance in the minds of common Indians that the Government is handling the Chinese challenge in an appropriate, no-nonsense manner.
There also is one more step that the people must take note of. The Government has allowed the Armed Forces -- the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force -- to spend up to Rs. 500 crore to buy from the market critical weapons should a full-scale military engagement take place with China. This is a rare step, the like of which the country has only rarely seen. The last time the Government had done that was when post-Uri surgical strikes and Balakot air-strikes were conducted. Obviously, the Government would not like to waste even a minute in the bureaucratic delays that often dog weapons acquisition no matter the seriousness of the given situation on the ground.
It is obvious that the Government is considering the current threat-perception as the guiding principles. There is no doubt that the military stance and diplomatic moves have staved off an immediate possibility of the current stand-off blowing up into a full-scale operation. But given the criminal propensity of the Chinese mental process, the Government does not seem ready to be go slack on any front. Hence the changed Rules of Engagement. Hence the special freedoms granted to the Armed Forces in case things threaten to go out of control.
A word of appreciation and satisfaction about our Armed Forces is necessary at this stage. From Day One of the current stand-off, the Indian Armed Forces have conducted themselves in an exemplarily professional manner. In the eyeball to eyeball confrontation, they never lost control of their faculties, but brooked no nonsense from the Chinese. Their best performance came during the night of June 15-16 when they got drawn into a fierce physical scuffle. True, they lost twenty of their brave-hearts, but not before they had killed as many as 43 Chinese troops including many of their officers. The subsequent Intelligence estimates of the damage the Indians caused to the Chinese are staggering, to say the least. Many Chinese soldiers were found dead with broken necks, indicating the high levels of martial arts the Indians seem to have mastered as part of their training.
In fact, the Indians never expected such an outbreak of violent action. All they had expected was at the most an angry exchange when they asked the Chinese to move back. But the Chinese had already planned an attack, and caught the Indians unawares. That was when a fierce scuffle ensued, showcasing the Indian resoluteness. The world has not missed the detail, no matter the Chinese silence thereafter. No matter, also, the so-called Chinese claim on Galwan Valley, the world has not missed the legitimacy of India’s stance. And as the world registers the efficiency with which India and its Armed Forces tackle the situation, India has ramped up its approach to the issue. The hardened stance will certainly make a critical difference to India’s overall preparedness, currently and in the future. It will never let China have its say whatsoever in artificial border disputes.