Showing posts with label Xinjiang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xinjiang. Show all posts

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Chinese Aggression in Ladakh and Indian Response



The Sino Russian Ussuri River dispute had a political backdrop, however one of the claims cited by the Chinese, was that during the time of Qing dynasty, their sovereignty  extended to outer Mongolia and parts of Siberia, and that the Russians had usurped Chinese territory at some point of time, when the Chinese were weak.    The conflict escalated into the intermittent ‘Ussuri River clashes’ extending over a period of seven months with neither side backing off. Finally, post talks a mutually acceptable boundary was demarcated in the area in the 1990's.

The Ussuri River incident has pointers for India. The Sino Indian dispute has a political and economic backdrop along with Chinese hegemonic attitude, which is also being displayed in the maritime disputes in South China sea and the Nine Dash Line claim. The Qing dynasty line is being quoted in Chinese writings particularly as pertaining to Arunachal Pradesh. To think, that mere talks and good economic relations will bring about the Chinese to accept our sense of the LAC as the boundary, is far fetched and can have disastrous consequences. We have walked the path of self-delusional thinking and ambiguous decision making in 1962 and it would be foolish to tread that way again.

While there is much talking and writing in the Indian media of our military and logistic capability gap as against the Chinese PLA. The PLA too has to contend with challenges on the Sino Indian border, and these chinks in the armour can be be exploited to our advantage. In the command structure of PLA, Lanzhou Military region is responsible for operations in Ladakh sector stretching up to areas opposite HP. The PLA in Lanzhou MR, comprising of over six divisions’ of various types, is dependent on a single road artery the Kashgar- Aksai Chin highway. The tenuous road runs over numerous mountain ranges and lends itself well to aerial and ground interdiction. Main PLA forces of Lanzhou MR are based in Urumqi and Gansu military districts. With such extended lines of communications, the PLA will have to carry out a major logistic exercise to transport its forces along this highway through Aksai Chin to areas opposite Indian defenses in Ladakh and HP. A travel distance of over 2000 kms.  There also are vulnerabilities in the rail communication system in Xingjian and in the oil and gas supply system. Any disruption will have a causative effect on PLA forces opposite Ladakh sector.

Reports in the media indicate that China has positioned its military elements in Gilgit -Baltistan, to protect its projects in the area. By doing so, it has created a threat perception to our road communications to Ladakh, which pass through Kargil Sector. In Afghanistan, India is undertaking developmental work at considerable expenditure. The Kashgar-Yakhand-Karakoram-Aksai chin highway travels in close proximity to Sino Afghan border. The situation calls for a bold decision of placing Indian boots on ground in Afghanistan. This will serve the twin purpose of neutralizing Pakistan from the North while at the same time provides a counterpoise to PLA presence in Gilgit-Baltistan. It will also give India the capability to interdict by multiple means the Kashgar road or the Karakoram highway.


With our forces operating in Afghanistan, India will gain the initiative of action against militant forces operating out of that area and at the same time create favorable strategic conditions in Sino Indian context in Ladakh area. We should not perpetually be restricted to a reactive mode of strategic situation.

In another vein, Afghanistan cannot be allowed to go the Iraq way. A rapid pullout by American forces from Iraq has destabilized the country to a point that today their army is not able to stand up to ISIL. Similarly, Afghanistan will continue to face a major Taliban threat and so will India from such militants. It would be in our strategic interest to use a combination of hard power and soft power to ensure Afghanistan stays a viable country and at the same time the Taliban elements and their supporters are engaged heavily from a direction that they least expect. This calls for a bold initiative with well-planned application of air and ground forces in conjunction with ISF/US forces. It is time that Indian Armed forces developed viable expeditionary capability so that India can look after its national interests.

A bold General prefers to carry the battle to enemy territory.