Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat is in East Ladakh sector today to review the tri-services preparedness against the aggressive People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as well as understand the proposed de-escalation and disengagement process at the four stand-off points. As an Army Chief, General Rawat stood up to Chinese PLA at Doklam plateau on India-Bhutan-China tri-junction for 73 days in 2017.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to go to western sector later, Gen Rawat will be briefed by the XIV Corps Commander Lt General Harinder Singh and will take note of requirements on ground. As the first CDS of India, Gen Rawat has a strong bond with the troops as he is blunt and to the point.
Although the Ministry of External Affairs spokesman on Thursday called for expeditious dis-engagement from the border, the de-escalation process will take time with the PLA not in the mood to walk the talk between the two governments on ground. Despite talking about peace and dis-engagement, the PLA troop withdrawal from Galwan, Gogra, Hot Springs and Pangong Tso will take a lot of time and serious persuasion.
According to military commanders, the PLA continues to earmark its territory at all the stand-off points by physical deployment while undertaking superficial thinning in the rear by withdrawing a few vehicles and few men. The PLA stands amassed at Galwan River Valley and consolidated at Pangong Tso with massive infrastructure upgrade.
Faced with a recalcitrant adversary, the Indian Army and Air Force are fully deployed to prevent any further aggression from the PLA. The morale of the forces appears to be very high particularly after the June 15 flare-up at Galwan. “ We have no intentions of initiating any skirmish but any aggression from the other side will be fully repelled,” said a senior military commander.
With temperatures in East Ladakh and Tibet well over 20 degree Celsius and high velocity winds sweeping the region, air operations in the area are a challenge with weight limits being imposed during take-offs particularly in Russian origin platforms. While IAF will use the air bases in the plains in the worst case scenario, the PLA Air Force will have serious difficulty in operating from Tibetan Plateau. The coming days will also be a test of unproven Chinese air platforms, missiles and land systems as their battle worthiness has never been challenged.