The Indian Army has shown it can face down the PLA, but is too often held back by a political leadership that lacks boldness, asserts Ajai Shukla.
General Zhao Zongqi is well known in India for having commanded the Chinese troops during the Dokalam episode. Zhao knows every inch and corner of the Indian border, at least the Eastern and Central sectors, including the Naku La area which witnessed fist-fights between Indian and Chinese troops in April/May. Claude Arpi introduces us to the PLA generals masterminding the Chinese aggression in Ladakh.
He said both sides reaffirmed to sincerely work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC.
'Have you met anyone who said "I will not boycott Chinese products"?'
From March 1959 to March 1962, the PLA fought 12 major battles in central Tibet which was seen as an opportunity to train China's soldiers, notes Ajai Shukla.
China's closer and enhanced relationship with Pakistan is putting considerable strain in India-China relations, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
There is growing alarm at the inexorable rise of China, both of its military prowess and its aggressive bullying of other countries plus its subjugation of whole portions of its own population.
The PLA Air Force has conducted a combat air patrol in the South China Sea recently, which will become "a regular practice" in the future
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
As per the agreement reached by the two sides, India and China will withdraw the forward deployment in a phased and coordinated manner, the defence minister said.
For both India and China, the most likely option -- and the most challenging -- appears to be a freezing of the status quo.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
'The immediate attempt by China is to get its way and gain territory through small steps without having a full-scale war.'
Official sources said withdrawal of tanks and other armoured elements from certain friction points is nearing completion while pulling back of troops from the North bank areas is being undertaken.
Against the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh, the White House press secy said the United States was closely monitoring the current situation and supports its peaceful resolution.
The political-electoral calculus favours spending thousands of crores on vanity projects like Sardar Patel's statue and the Central Vista over building up our military to handle the confrontations and conflicts that loom large, points out Ajai Shukla.
Until last month more than two-thirds of the Indian Army was deployed against Pakistan. Of 14 army corps, just four-and-a-half faced China, while more than twice that number was ranged against Pakistan.
Modi, who was wearing a 'Mujib Jacket' as tribute to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation, said that Bangabandhu's leadership and bravery had ensured that no power could enslave Bangladesh.
With the Indian Army having blocked the PLA several kilometres inside India, hundreds of soldiers from both sides remain in a tense face-off.
'We are ready to surrender,' Lieutenant General A A K Niazi said over the phone from Dhaka.
A suspicious low-altitude drone flying in the restricted airspace of the Chinese capital that sparked a major security alert and delayed a number of commercial flights, was shot down by the People's Liberation Army military helicopter, state-media reported one year after the incident.
Close on the heels of over a dozen incursions since the face-off in Ladakh in April from across the Line of Actual Control, Chinese troops made a fresh attempt to violate the International Border at Chumar area in north-east of Leh on July 20, but were forced back by Indian troops.
'Our love for our great nation -- Bharat is second to none and our patriotism towards our motherland -- India is for the entire nation to emulate.'
'The wise men learn lessons in war.' 'The smart men learn lessons from others, it's only the foolish who learn the wrong lesson.'
'With butterflies in our stomachs, but confident of our mission, we took off for Jaffna on the morning of 24 July 1987.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe recalls a conversation with Air Vice Marshal Harpal Singh Ahluwalia (retd), then a wing commander and mission leader for the clandestine operation.
With China reacting sharply to government's plans to construct a border road in Arunachal Pradesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday sent a strong message, asserting that no one can warn India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying tributes to the valour and sacrifices of Bangladeshi freedom fighters and Indian armed forces on the 50th anniversary of the occasion 'Vijay Diwas'.
'Post the pandemic, when India is turning a new leaf in its economic policy with an eye on foreign capital and global supply chains that are likely to leave China, heightened tensions on the India-China border creates an atmosphere of uncertainty,' observes Virendra Kapoor.
'Nanda Devi is not an easy mountain to climb.'
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
In a few years from now, India will be looking at an entirely different type of military adversary across the borders, in our waters, in the air, in space and in our communication networks, says Nitin Pai.
We're behaving like frogs in warm water. We swim around untroubled, cooled by our faith in Indian liberal democracy. We are blind to the bubbles popping around us, the bubbles warning of fundamental changes, says Mihir S Sharma.
'J P Dutta's clownish treatment of history and hard-earned triumph demeans the efforts and sacrifices of real-life martyrs and bravehearts with its pompous ideas of valour, clunky writing and a cadre of lacklustre actors,' says Sukanya Verma.
'The killings are a worrisome escalation of tensions, but little is known about the immediate causes or results of the fight in Galwan and it is not possible, at this point, to assign blame'
India is committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China, says Parrikar in Beijing.
'Our boys are very patriotic.' 'They say Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Hind in front of the Chinese.' 'We have never accepted their claims, we are Indians and proud to be Indians.'
The Global Times, in an editorial, titled 'Sitharaman greeting sends warm signal', said that the Indian defence minister's traditional 'namaste' greetings to the Chinese soldiers conveyed her hope for peace along the border and "unwillingness to see a new stand-off," adding that this was an attitude of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre.
'Having tied himself in knots, he just might take a decision which is dangerous, one that could take his nation to war.'
In the wake of reported incursion attempts by China, India on Wednesday said such incidents take place due to difference of perception about boundary and leaders of both the countries are in talks to resolve the issue.
The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India.
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