'The unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
At least a couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the un-demarcated Sino-India border in the area after the fierce face-off on May 5 following which a fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of the Indian Air Force too carried out sorties there, the sources said.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In the two years since the PLA's intrusions into Eastern Ladakh, the Border Roads Organisation is sparing no effort to build and upgrade road highways from Tezpur to the McMahon Line.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Both the Indian and Chinese armies have brought in more troops in sensitive locations like Demchok, Daulat Beg Oldie and areas around Galwan river as well as Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, the sources said. The area around Galwan has been a point of friction between the two sides for over six decades.
'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.'
The prime minister's meetings with Abe and Turnbull came a day after he held "very expansive" talks with US President Donald Trump on intensifying overall security and defence cooperation, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region where China is strengthening its military build up.
'I don't see how any Indian government or any Indian military leadership can now ask the soldiers to patrol without weapons.'
'The Ladakh Scouts are a fantastic mountain troops suited to this terrain.' 'Other troops have to first get acclimatised, but these men are tough mountain people.'
India abstained on the procedural vote taken in the Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the tense situation on the Ukraine border.
'We would have faced many more Galwans had Indian troops not reacted and retaliated the way they did.'
On the title page of the Top Secret Report, Henderson-Brooks quotes the Chinese tactician Sun Tzu: 'Know yourself, know your enemy: A hundred battles, a hundred victories', says Claude Arpi, highlighting where the Indian Army and government failed to counter the Chinese attack in 1962.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Russia is the only country that can act as facilitator for any eventual Chinese-Indian rapprochement,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He called for delineation of the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) which China has refused earlier.
India has experienced hands and will emerge with flying colours, declares Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
'The use of military power to settle disputes is not always preferred and is the last preferred option, but it certainly remains an option.'
The US move came after the Justice Department said that hackers working with the Chinese government targeted firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from companies across the world.
Rajnath Singh believes it would be naive to see disengagement of the armies from the LAC as the end of the trouble. The defence minister has urged the defence forces to be ready for a long haul
It will be interesting to see whether India-China border tensions figure during the deliberations of PLA deputies to the NPC and CPPCC, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
'It is a constantly evolving situation and will require deft handling at the ground level and at the highest level of military, diplomatic and political leadership,' observes Colonel S Dinny (retd), who served as Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion deployed in the Pangong Tso area.
'India in 2020 is a lot better prepared than in 1962.' 'It is no longer a pushover; and anything other than a crushing Chinese military victory will be a major loss of face for China,' observes Rajeev Srinivasan in the first of a three part column.
December 3, 2021 marks 50 years since the beginning of the 1971 War which ended in a decisive military victory for India and the liberation of Bangladesh. Most analysts of the 1971 War agree that the IV Corps dash across the mighty Meghna river led by the brilliant General Sagat Singh was the turning point in the war, recalls military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Even if the national security framework is to be threat-based, then the division of security threats between Pakistan and China is absurd. The two threats are one.'
'It could have moved from the use of small arms to artillery fire.' 'Anything could have happened like what happens on the LoC.'
'The world does not care about the tension on our border.' 'India has to emerge as a strong economic power.' 'Respect comes when the world sees a country with a direction and leadership that has a vision,' points out Ramesh Menon.
'One is not talking of an all-out war,' says Colonel Anil A A Athale (retd). 'What we must accept is a short, sharp, attack by the Chinese, more in the nature of a slap!'
India on Monday abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the situation on the Ukraine border.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
'Xi Jinping got a dose of Modi's medicine inside the tent where he was being hosted on the banks of the Sabarmati river.' 'Modi reportedly told him, looking deep into his eyes: "This was not expected of your country. Can you tell me when the troops are withdrawing?".'
'Rezang La was a unique battle.' 'It was not a large scale battle like the Battle of Kohima which involved a large number of troops.' 'Here there was just a company that fought it out till the last man.'
'India is a huge market for Chinese goods. I don't think a war stands to logic when you have economic compulsions, but then Chinese are known to do illogical things.'
It currently has between 140 and 150 nuclear weapons in its control and stockpiled around 200 to 300 kilogram of plutonium.
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In cyber security, India's main concerns are Pakistani and Chinese espionage. Which is exactly why the US needs to build up partnership with India.
'Fearful of losing strategic advantage, the only option for Pakistan is to rattle its nuclear sabre!' 'Pakistan thereby hopes to play on the worldwide fear of an outbreak of nuclear war in South Asia,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The bigger challenge and dilemma for Pakistan would be if the US and Saudi Arabia go full throttle against Iran and enforce regime change in Tehran.' 'That would be bad news for Pakistan, especially with the current instability in Balochistan,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
'Could the Chinese have taken a leaf out of our book?' 'That their unprecedented build-up is their attempt at coercive diplomacy with India?' 'And if so, what is it that they could be expecting as a quid pro quo?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Today, the Ladakhis and Tibetans have been joined by the Sikhs, the Madrassis, the Garhwalis, the Rajputs, who are well trained psychologically and otherwise, to defend the nation, observes Claude Arpi.
'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'
