Over a million officials are said to have been punished in Xi's anti-corruption campaign according to the official media accounts. The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
If Xi Jinping can establish control over the PLA Ground Force, relations between India and China will settle down to an even keel. The next few weeks will show whether Xi has finally succeeded in gaining control over the PLA Ground Force. That could bring about the substantive shift in India-China relations that both our leaders have been working for, observes Ambassador Prabhat Shukla.
Important for India was Xi's meeting with representatives of PLA officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet. The video of the encounter was interesting to watch, especially the large number of lieutenant generals and major generals, observes Claude Arpi.
'As the PLA higher command is almost dismantled and instability spreads, India needs to be prepared for any eventuality,' cautions China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
Two former Chinese defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges, official media reported.
The Central Military Commission, which is the overall high command of the Chinese military, is headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a surprise development, a top Chinese military general has cast aspersions on the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s much-publicised 'real combat-oriented exercises' as 'fake combat capabilities' at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered it to prepare for 'maritime military struggles' to win wars.
Dismissing provocative comments made by a 'Major General' of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army who sparked a controversy ahead of Defence Minister A K Antony's visit, officials in Beijing on Saturday said that the officer was superannuated and retired from political and military posts a while ago.
Discovering the stunning land of breathtaking temples.
The fierce battles of Galwan, Rezang La, Gurung Hill, and Walong taught the PLA a hard lesson: Fighting the Indian Army would never be easy or inexpensive.
'For the first time in a hundred years, the army has been taken out of the political equation. And for the first time ever, there is only one man who calls the shots. Not even Mao had this kind of power.'
General Manoj Mukund Naravane's memoir has triggered a controversy by revealing behind-the-scenes decision-making during the 2020 India-China standoff in Ladakh. Its candid account of military and political responses at a critical moment has reignited debate over civil-military relations, accountability, and the limits of disclosure in matters of national security.
A leading Chinese scientist specializing in semiconductor chips for weapon systems has been detained by anti-corruption authorities, according to his company, Zhejiang Great Microwave Technology.
'Nehru was an idealist, he was certainly a visionary in one way, but Mao Zedong was not. Mao Zedong was a very down-to-earth strategist. He wanted to take Tibet, to take the plateau, to take the rivers, to take the minerals.'
Vice Admiral Li Hanjun, chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and Liu Shipeng, deputy chief engineer of China National Nuclear Corporation, have been expelled from the National People's Congress (NPC), the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
The United States has warned China against escalating tensions as Taiwan detected multiple Chinese naval vessels, official ships and balloons operating around the island amid Beijing's large-scale live-fire military drills.
'After the Galwan clash, the rules of engagement changed with the army commanders allowed to use any means at their disposal as they deem fit for tactical operations.'
If Xi Jinping is dethroned in the future, the instrument for that may well be embedded within the PLA, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi announced that India is considering raising a 'rocket-cum-missile' force in response to the evolving regional security situation and similar units in China and Pakistan. The move aims to enhance India's combat capabilities and long-range strike potential.
'Political protection allow groups to recruit, rearm and operate with reduced operational pressure. That increases their bargaining power and their ability to destabilise.'
The Indian Army's broader reorganisation is inevitable as India's military doctrine adapts to the demands of the modern battlefield.
'You cannot 'clear' your way to peace.' 'You need intelligence, calibrated force, impartial law enforcement, political neutrality, humanitarian returns and a sustained reconciliation plan.'
Two jawans of the Assam Rifles were killed and five others injured when a group of armed men ambushed a vehicle of the paramilitary force on September 19.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
'One Chinese interlocutor said India should realise that "China can do without India, but India could not do without China", pointing to its inability to do without Chinese intermediates and components,' former foreign secretary Shyam Saran discovers on a visit to China.
Twenty-six foreign leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, will attend China's V-Day commemorations on September 3. Japan has expressed concerns about the event's anti-Japanese overtones.
'It is because of the bravery of Colonel Santosh Babu and his men that we have not seen a violent escalation anywhere else along the LAC.'
A new military rank system had been introduced for the PLA, but all soldiers must always obey the Communist party, reveals Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
Gen Wang is the fourth commander to head the Western Theatre Command after the eastern Ladakh standoff began in May last year.
The Chinese military on Thursday said the situation along the India-China border 'at present' is 'generally stable' and both sides have maintained 'effective' communication to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
'This reluctance to respond forcefully to Chinese PLA provocations and outright aggression has as much to do with Prime Minister Modi personally, as with the institutional mindset of the MEA or even the Indian Army.' 'They are scarred by the 1962 War and are still cowed by China.'
Pakistan plans to procure 40 jets of advanced Chinese stealth fighter J-35, which, if materialised, will mark the first export of China's latest jet. The sale would mark Beijing's first export of fifth-generation jets to a foreign ally and is expected to recalibrate regional dynamics, particularly in relation to Pakistan's rival India. The acquisition of new aircraft was pursued despite the serious economic crisis faced by Pakistan. China has helped Pakistan to jointly develop and operate the J-17 Thunder fighter jet, the mainstay of the PAF. China has delivered four advanced naval frigates to the Pakistan Navy in the last few years to enable it to play a bigger role along with its navy in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
'Tibetans will participate in future conflicts with India (in all probability, some were already present in Galwan).' 'As nobody in India would like to have a deadly fight with Tibetan soldiers and officers, the issue needs to be closely followed,' observes Claude Arpi.
The first priority for the new Tibetan administration in Dharamsala should be to look at Tibetan recruitment in the PLA, suggests Claude Arpi.
Xi said the entire military should devote all its energy to carry out all its work for combat readiness, enhance its capability to fight and win, and effectively fulfill its missions and tasks
'Why wouldn't so strategically-minded an adversary, such as China, not militarily exploit to the maximum Indian timidity, stupidity, and cupidity all along the LAC and legitimate, as it has done so often in the past, the fait accompli of incremental territorial grabs which, by the way, is its strategy and policy as implemented on the ground?'
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
If China is accommodating regarding Depsang and Demchok, a resolution of the Sino-India territorial dispute in Eastern Ladakh could be possible.
In the confrontation in Doklam, where Indian and Chinese soldiers were lined up eyeball-to-eyeball, senior Indian commanders recount they could sense the uncertainty in the Chinese. While Indian soldiers had to be restrained from pushing the Chinese troops back, our chief interpreter heard the Chinese officers threatening to open fire on PLA soldiers who wavered or withdrew, reveals Ajai Shukla.
The Indian Army's XIV Corps -- better known as the Fire and Fury Corps -- has a unique responsibilty since it guards India's borders with China and Pakistan as well as the Siachen Glacier.
