long way to go

THAT the Chinese troops were seen removing their tents and moving away in Patrolling Point 14 in the Galwan Valley and also in the Gogra Hot Spring area of eastern Ladakh and that some such movement was noticed also in the Pangong Tso area, should be watched with a lot of caution, thanks to the unpredictable nature of the Chinese. Even though this may be an outcome of the series of the diplomatic and military talks India held with China in the past few weeks, it is worthwhile to be cautious and avoid jumping to conclusion that the adversary is moving back. In fact, these movements must make the Indian troops all the more prepared for a sudden rallying back of the Chinese troops, creating trouble. The chequered history of India-China relations makes it mandatory for India to be cautious.

The strong and no-nonsense but indirect reference to China as an expansionist power in the speech of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to the Indian troops during his surprise visit to Ladakh, of course, made China squirm. In a weak response to the Prime Minister’s charge, China had claimed that it was not an expansionist power and had resolved a majority of disputes with its neighbours without conflict. This response from Beijing was good enough an indication that the Prime Minister had hit the nail hard on the head, pushing Beijing on the back-foot.

Despite that response, India is wise enough never to take the Chinese for their word. India knows the manner in which China handled disputes with other countries -- by almost brow-beating them. In most disputes, Beijing has used its military superiority to leverage a better deal for itself. Fortunately, India has seen the reality as it is, and therefore does not rely on China’s cosmetic words. It must be admitted, however, that India has played its cards very well during this stand-off. In a most natural response to the Chinese adventurism, India decided to do man-to-man, weapon-to-weapon marking.

This response proved highly effective and helped positively India’s diplomatic efforts as well. But the best response from India was the fierce physical scuffle with the Chinese troops in the night of June 15-16. True, as many as twenty Indian soldiers became martyrs, pushing the nation into a profound grief. But in the process, they also eliminated more than double the number of Chinese soldiers. Some estimates also indicated that more Chinese soldiers would die subsequently succumbing to grave injuries caused to them in the scuffle.

This display of unarmed bravery by the Indian Army became the strongest hit-back by India, almost making China realise its limitations. No matter the cosmetic efforts by China to conceal its damage, the world realised that the Indians had dealt them with a terrible blow which they had hardly expected. No matter the pressure they tried to build during the stand-off, many experts kept insisting that the Chinese were not tough fighters and the Indians were far superior in every which the way, including man-to-man combat. Some experts also reminded the nation that even in 1962 when the Indians were far less prepared -- for whatever reasons that can be discussed later -- they showed their soldiering capabilities and patriotism of a superior variety.

The defeat of India in that conflict came because of the failure of the national leadership to read the situation correctly. But even in that hostile situation, the Indian soldiers acquitted themselves very well, surprising the world. On the night of June 15-16, the Indian soldiers sent a terrific message to the adversaries. That made a critical difference. The overall handling of the matter, thus, by India was of a very fine variety. The dispute is still not over and a lot of caution will have to be exercised by New Delhi. Yet, the fact that the Chinese were seen moving back, should be considered a good sign that the tension may start easing out bit by bit. Yet, given that there are Chinese on the other side, we mst keep telling ourselves that it may be a long way to go before things settle down finally.