Chinese intrusions into Indian territory
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Attacks by China
Galwan Valley: Early 1900s
Rohan Dua, June 19, 2020: The Times of India
From: Rohan Dua, June 19, 2020: The Times of India
Days after the India-China face-off in Galwan river valley, the family of Ladhakhi writer and explorer Ghulam Rasul Galwan — from whom the valley gets its name — recalled another brutal encounter on the same land, this one a century ago, that their ancestor had with Chinese soldiers during an expedition in the 1900s.
“It pains us that more than 100 years on, Chinese transgressions have continued. Galwan Valley is named after my great-grandfather who bravely fought the Chinese and lived to tell the tale,” Manzoor, the author’s great-grandson, told TOI from his home in Leh’s Yourtung on Thursday.
Galwan’s grandson, Amin, a 65-year-old retired government servant, recalled the Chinese attack mentioned in his grandfather’s autobiography ‘Servant of Sahibs: Asakal of Leh’. He said: “My grandfather had taken along sahibs (as British were called then) for an expedition near the valley in the early 1900s when there were several instances of Chinese soldiers beating them up. One day, there was news of another attack and armed with sticks my grandfather and a few others ran after four Chinese soldiers on horses. When they were on their way back to camp, some Chinese men attacked them brutally. They managed to flee and hide in a house for some time but when they came out, the Chinese encircled them. It was only when my grandfather feigned death that they left.”
Galwan lay there until some British men came to his rescue several hours later. It’s his tales of exploration and courage that are often cited in the region. Galwan’s journey from a porter to an ‘aksakal’ or assistant to the then British joint commissioner at Leh is recorded in gazetteers.
Amin said his grandfather was born in 1878 in Leh and worked as a guide for the British in Tibet, the mountains of central Asia — especially the Karakoram Range — when he was barely 12. It was a time when the British were anxious about Russian expansion with an eye on Tibet. Galwan guided troops through the hostile territory and gathered intelligence about Russian plans that could compromise British interests in India. Tahir, another one of his greatgrandsons, said “It’s time that we give a strong push to Indian brands. The Galwan valley will always remain ours.”
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by Indian troops
India-China stand-off: Past pacts prevented pulling the trigger, June 19, 2020: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Indian soldiers patrolling in the forward areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China do carry assault rifles and firearms but when a team goes ahead to confront or talk to PLA troops, they are usually unarmed or have their weapons concealed or slung on their backs.
This, in short, is the standard operating procedure (SOP) followed by Indian troops, who are also under strict instructions to never open fire in accordance with the flurry of border management agreements inked with China over the years. The 1996 agreement, for instance, lays down that “neither side shall open fire or conduct blast operations within 2 km of the LAC”.
The brutal killing of 20 Indian soldiers, including the commanding officer of 16 Bihar Colonel B Santosh Babu, by troops of the People’s Liberation Army armed with nail-studded rods and stones in the Galwan Valley region of eastern Ladakh on Monday night has already led the Indian defence establishment to rethink existing SOPs and protocols, as was reported by TOI.
It triggered a huge controversy, with many questioning why the Indian soldiers did not draw their weapons on being faced with a brutal assault. Foreign minister S Jaishankar said troops carried arms but did not use them because of agreements between the two sides not to open fire.
Many military veterans strongly opposed him.
Former Northern Army commander Lt General H S Panag (retd) tweeted: “These agreements (with China) apply to border management and not while dealing with a tactical military situation. Lastly, when lives of soldiers or security of post/territory threatened, the commander on the spot can use all weapons at his disposal, including artillery.”
Brigadier Sandeep Thapar (retd) said, “If your colonel gets killed in front of you, all rules will be flung out of the window. If the enemy has violated the protocols and carried out offensive action, why should rules of conduct apply?
2017
See also:
July: Chamoli
PLA intruded into Chamoli 3 days ahead of Doval's China visit, Aug 01 2017: The Times of India
An intrusion by a detachment of 10-15 Chinese troops took place in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on July 25, just three days before national security adviser Ajit Doval's visit to Beijing for a BRICS meeting, even as the standoff in Doklam remains unresolved.
Government sources played down the transgressions in Barahoti in Chamoli, saying similar incidents had occurred in the past and were sorted out by local commanders. But the incident showed that Chinese soldiers continue to intrude across the Line of Actual Control in different sectors to lay claim to disputed areas.
Indian Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand told TOI, “No incursion has happened in Barahoti as is being claimed. Such reports are in correct.“ Col Anand added, “Transgressions do happen but they are mainly due to differing perceptions of LAC .“
The Uttarakhand state government has, however, ordered an inquiry . Government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said, “At present, we are not aware of this incident, but we can't completely deny it.“ The Barahoti incident saw 10-15 PLA soldiers “transgress“ almost one km into a disputed pocket -a mutually agreed `demilitarized zone' -on July 25.Though they left around two hours later, sources said a similar incident took place in the same area on Sunday as well.
Government sources, however, did not read too much into the intrusions. “Transgressions occur due to differing perceptions between India and China about where the LAC actually lies, right from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. Around 300 such transgressions by the PLA are recorded every year,“ said a source. China remains adamant about Indian troops unilaterally withdrawing from the ongoing face-off in the Doklam area, which is actually Bhutanese territory but coveted by China. The Doklam imbroglio is different from usual transgressions across the LAC since it is located in a third country (Bhutan), and India has reinforced its military posture near the tri-junction in the face of escalating rhetoric from China.
Indian and Chinese armies conduct `aggressive patrolling' along all three sectors of the 4,057-km LAC -western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal). Eastern Ladakh, in particular, has remained a major flashpoint.
Transgressions in the middle sector are rare. On July 25, Chinese troops entered the disputed area in Barahoti to threaten Indian shepherds grazing cattle in the area around 9am, ITBP officials said. After ITBP troops reached the spot, the Chinese troops quietly went back to their territory. But they returned on Sunday morning, before leaving once again.
While Indian soldiers do not enter the demilitarised Barahoti zone, an 80 sq km sloping pasture about 140 km from Dehradun, ITBP troops patrol the area with their weapons in a non-combative mode.
India and China in 1958 had listed Barahoti as a disputed area where neither side would send their troops. In the 1962 war, the PLA did not enter the middle sector and focused on western and eastern ones.
In 2000, India had unilaterally agreed that ITBP troops would not carry arms in the three posts of Barahoti as well as Kaurik and Shipki (Himachal). ITBP men, in fact, often patrol in civil dress in the area.
Dec: Upper Siang (Arunachal Pradesh)
Rajat Pandit, January 3, 2018:The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
Chinese track-alignment and excavation activity near Bishing was first detected in December.
The Chinese personnel retreated after being stopped by Indian troops.
Such transgressions across the LAC are highly unusual in the winter months.
Chinese road construction personnel intruded almost one kilometre into the Indian territory in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh in late December but retreated after being stopped by Indian troops, who seized their two excavators and other equipment.
Indian security establishment officials on Wednesday, however, played down this yet another incident of China ratcheting up pressure all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) despite the disengagement of rival troops from the 73-day face-off at Doklam+ near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction on August 28.
"There is no troop confrontation at the site near the Bishing village in Tuting area of Arunachal's Upper Siang district. It's not a Doklam-like situation. The issue is being resolved through the established coordination mechanism (flag and border personnel meetings) between the two countries ... the Chinese will be asked to take their road-construction equipment back," said an official.
But such road alignment and construction bids as well as troop transgressions across the LAC, which stretches from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, are highly unusual in the winter months.
Already, around 1,600-1,800 Chinese troops have established a permanent presence in the Bhutanese territory of Doklam, with the construction of two helipads, upgraded roads, scores of pre-fabricated huts, shelters and stores to withstand the chill in the high-altitude region, as reported by TOI earlier+ .
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in Beijing said his country had "never acknowledged the existence of so-called Arunachal Pradesh", while maintaining he was "unaware" about any Chinese intrusion in the Tuting area last month.
Indian officials, however, said the Chinese track-alignment and excavation activity near Bishing was first detected in late December by some villagers.
On being alerted, a joint Army-ITBP patrol trekked to the hilly area along the Siang river (which takes a 'S'-shaped turn into Arunachal) to confront the Chinese road-construction personnel and deflate the tyres of their excavators on December 28. "The handful of Chinese personnel present went back to their own side of the LAC on the same day after being told to do so. There was no face-off," said the official.
The Tuting area, incidentally, has never been a "hotspot" for India-China border tensions. Both armies undertake regular patrols to lay claim to "8-10 disputed areas" along the border in Arunachal Pradesh like Asaphila, a remote 100 sq km area in Upper Subansiri division of the state, and the so-called "Fish Tail-I and II" areas in Chaglagam sector, which take its name from the shape the LAC takes in the region.
India maintains a strong military presence in Arunachal Pradesh, with as many as four infantry divisions (over 40,000 soldiers) geared for its defence from China. Moreover, the IAF has activated six advanced landing grounds (ALGs) at Pasighat, Mechuka, Walong, Along, Ziro and Tuting in the state over the last few years for fast mobility of troops and supplies to remote areas in the state. The ALG at the small town of Tuting, for instance, was inaugurated in December 2016.
After the Doklam stand-off was diffused, with the rival troops withdrawing to around 500 meters apart, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had warned that China will continue with its efforts to nibble away disputed territories through "salami slicing", muscle-flexing and other measures.
2020
China planned Galwan clashes: US panel
December 3, 2020: The Times of India
China planned Galwan clashes, says US panel
‘Possibility Of Fatalities Also Factored In’
New Delhi:
Accusing China of ramping up its coercion campaign against neighbours, a top US commission has said in its report to Congress that the Chinese government had “planned” the Galwan Valley clash in June, potentially including the “possibility for fatalities”. While 20 Indian soldiers died in the LAC clashes on June 15, the Chinese had suffered casualties too. The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), in its report, also said Beijing had ramped up its “multi-year” coercion campaign against its neighbours, provoking military or paramilitary stand-offs with countries from Japan to India and much of Southeast Asia. The US body said there was “some evidence” to suggest that Galwan was planned and executed by the Chinese.
‘China minister called for use of force weeks before Galwan’
For instance, several weeks prior to the clash, defence minister Wei made his statement encouraging Beijing to ‘use fighting to promote stability’,” the USCC report said. “Shortly after China’s defence minister urged Beijing to use military force to stabilise its periphery, a violent clash on the China-India border in June led to the first loss of life between the two countries since 1975,” it said.
“Just over two weeks before the incident, an editorial in China’s state-owned tabloid Global Times warned that India would suffer a ‘devastating blow’ to its trade and economic ties with China if it got ‘involved in the US-China rivalry’. Satellite images depicted a large Chinese build-up in the Galwan Valley, including potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers, the week before the skirmish,” it added. The USCC is said to have the legislative mandate to monitor, probe and submit to the US Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the US and China, and to provide recommendations for legislative and administrative action.
The report said in the aftermath of the clash, Beijing asserted sovereignty over the entire Galwan Valley in what was a new claim and “significant change to the territorial status quo”.
2020: China sends martial artists to India border
June 28, 2020: The Times of India
China sent martial artists to India border before deadly clash: State media
BEIJING: China reinforced its troops near the Indian border with mountain climbers and martial arts fighters shortly before a deadly clash this month, state media reported.
Tensions are common between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in the mountainous border terrain, but this month's fighting was their deadliest encounter in over 50 years.
Five new militia divisions including former members of a Mount Everest Olympic torch relay team and fighters from a mixed martial arts club presented themselves for inspection at Lhasa on June 15, official military newspaper China National Defense News reported.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of hundreds of new troops lining up in the Tibetan capital.
Tibet commander Wang Haijiang said the Enbo Fight Club recruits would "greatly raise the organization and mobilization strength" of troops and their "rapid response and support ability," China National Defense News reported, although he did not explicitly confirm their deployment was linked to ongoing border tensions.
Chinese and Indian troops clashed later that day in the most violent confrontation between the two powers in decades, in the Ladakh region 1,300 kilometres away.
India says 20 of its own soldiers were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat that day, while China suffered an unknown number of casualties.
Both sides have blamed each other for the battle, which was fought with rocks and batons without any shots fired.
India said Thursday that it had reinforced troops in the contested Himalayan border region, saying it was matching a similar buildup by China.
Chinese state media have in recent weeks highlighted military activity including high-altitude anti-aircraft drills in the Tibet region bordering India.
The new troops were recruited with the aim of "strengthening the border and stabilizing Tibet," China National Defense News said.
India claims Chinese troops ambushed Indian soldiers and forced them down a ridge where they had gone to remove a Chinese "encroachment".
A bilateral accord prevents the use of guns, but the fighting was still fierce, with rudimentary weapons.
China has in turn accused Indian soldiers of twice crossing the Line of Actual Control, the unofficial boundary, provoking its troops.
The two countries fought a war over the border in 1962. There is an understanding between the nuclear-armed neighbours that their troops in the inhospitable region will not use firearms.
Territorial clashes
2020 Galwan: Beginning of the clash
WASHINGTON: A senior Chinese general authorised his forces to attack Indian troops in the Galwan River valley, resulting in a brutal skirmish that killed dozens and dramatically escalated tensions between the two Asian powerhouses, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment.
Gen. Zhao Zongqi, head of the Western Theater Command and among the few combat veterans still serving in the People's Liberation Army, approved the operation along the contested border region of northern India and southwestern China, a source familiar with the assessment says on the condition of anonymity.
According to U.S. News, Zhao, who has overseen prior standoffs with India, has previously expressed concerns that China must not appear weak to avoid exploitation by the United States and its allies, including in New Delhi, the source says, and saw the faceoff last week as a way to "teach India a lesson."
The assessment contradicts China's subsequent assertions about what happened on June 15.
And it indicates the deadly and contentious incident - in which at least 20 Indian and 35 Chinese troops died, and reportedly a handful on each side were captured and subsequently released - was not the result of a tense circumstance that spiralled out of control, as has happened before, but rather a purposeful decision by Beijing to send a message of strength to India.
Yet that plan appears to have backfired, as the incident sparked widespread outrage in India that continues a week later. And Beijing's attempts to make India more amenable to future negotiations, including about contested territory, instead appear to have pushed the economic giant closer to the U.S.
Much is at stake, far beyond territorial control. The U.S. has pressured India for months to back away from employing Chinese tech company Huawei to help build its 5G infrastructure. In the aftermath of June 15 incident Indians were reportedly deleting Chinese social media app TikTok and destroying phones made in China.
"It does the very opposite of what China wanted," the source says, adding that "this is not a victory for China's military."
It remains unclear the extent to which Chinese President Xi Jinping was involved in the decisions that led to the bloody encounter, though analysts familiar with Chinese military decision making say he would have almost certainly known about the orders.
Troops had massed on both sides of the border in recent months in the northern India region of Ladakh and the southwestern Chinese region of Aksai Chin, causing global concerns of a potential escalation between the two.
Private geo-intelligence firm Hawkeye 360 recently reported that satellite imagery from late May showed a buildup on the Chinese side of what appeared to be armed personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery.
Lack of clarity
Rajat Pandit, June 21, 2020: The Times of India
From: Rajat Pandit, June 21, 2020: The Times of India
There is still lack of clarity about the exact ground situation in the Galwan Valley region of eastern Ladakh. But sources in the Army say Chinese soldiers have built — since early May — dozens of new fortifications and bunkers after physically occupying an almost 8km stretch in what India considers to be its territory along Pangong Tso.
These sources acknowledge that Chinese troops have also taken control of the heights to dominate the ‘Finger-4 to 8’ (mountainous spurs) area on the north bank of Pangong Tso, adroitly utilising the time when bilateral military talks were underway on troop confrontations at Patrolling Points 14, 15 and 17 in the Galwan Valley and Gogra-Hot Springs areas. Senior officials on Saturday said the Indian Army is now “holding” the area near Patrolling Point-14 in the Galwan Valley region, which was the location of the bloody clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and 76 injured on June 15. “The two rival armies are more or less on their own sides of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan region. But there is no disengagement, with military buildups on both sides,” said an official source.
The troop confrontation on the north bank of Pangong Tso, located at an altitude of 13,900 feet across the Changla Pass, is much more serious. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), after a clash with Indian troops there on May 5-6, has been consistently blocking all Indian patrols going west to east from Finger-4 to 8 area, as TOI has reported since last month. “All Indian Army maps show the LAC runs north to south at Finger-8. With an ITBP post between Finger-3 and Finger-4, our patrols have been going up to Finger-8 for years. But the PLA has been refusing to discuss its occupation from Finger-4 to 8 since early last month,” said a senior officer.
In 1999, while India’s attention was diverted during the Kargil conflict with Pakistan, China had surreptitiously built a dirt track reaching up to Finger-4 area from its rear bases to the east at Sirijap-1 and 2. Subsequently, the PLA also black-topped it.
“PLA troops, often in vehicles from their post at Finger-8 and Sirijap, used to patrol in the area. But they had never physically occupied the area even though they claimed it till Finger-2,” said the officer. “But now, they have built a series of defences from Finger-4 to 8, while also occupying the heights. It will be difficult to dislodge them from there,” he added. India obviously wants a return to status quo ante, with the PLA’s pulling back from the “Finger 4” area and demolishing all its fortifications there, but that might take some doing.
Damage to China
Death of Chinese officers
China confirms death of 2 officers, including CO, June 23, 2020: The Times of India
China has confirmed that the commanding officer and another officer of the PLA battalion that instigated a bloody confrontation with Indian troops on the night of June 15 in Galwan Valley were killed in the clashes.
The Chinese side had informed the Indians soon afterwards about the deaths of their officers, but this has come to light only now. TOI had in its edition of June 18 reported the deaths in the PLA ranks (see screenshot) on the basis of intelligence sources.
A confirmation by China is significant. This is perhaps the first time since the clash with Vietnam in 1979—a military disaster for China—that PLA has suffered battle fatalities. The Chinese foreign ministry has refrained from acknowledging the losses suffered by PLA. Chinese media reports on the first day acknowledged PLA had lost an unspecified number of men.
2021
China posthumously awards titles to four soldiers
February 19, 2021: The Times of India
Galwan clash: China posthumously awards titles to four soldiers
NEW DELHI: China on Friday gave honorary titles and first-class merit citations to four soldiers who lost their life during the Galwan clash with India in June 2020.
Moreover, a colonel who was seriously injured, was conferred with an honorary title.
The announcement marks the first public admission by China of its casualties in the Galwan clash at Line of Actual control (LAC).
"Four Chinese soldiers, who were sacrificed in last June's border conflict, were posthumously awarded honorary titles and first-class merit citations," said Chinese state media People's Daily citing The Central Military Commission.
"The Central Military Commission awarded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander from the PLA Xinjiang Military Command, the title of "Hero regimental commander for defending the border," Chen Hongjun with "Hero to defend the border," and awarded first-class merit to Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran," reported Global Times.
India and China had been engaged in a border stand-off since May last year until they jointly agreed to disengage their troops from the banks of Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh.
With the troop disengagement on both sides of Pangong Tso is now complete, the 10th round of corps commander-level talks between India and China will be held on Saturday.
The disengagement from Gogra, Hot Springs and the strategically-located Depsang Plains are likely to come up in the high-level meeting.
The tensions between the two nations heightened when soldiers from the two armies clashed in Galwan Valley in June 2020.
Twenty Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, were killed and several others grievously injured in a violent physical skirmish with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley region of eastern Ladakh.
China never declared its official casualty count, but various reports have estimated the number of PLA troops killed in the clash to be over 40.
Recently, Russian news agency TASS reported that 45 Chinese soldiers died in the Galwan clash.
See also
1962 war: Gist of the Henderson Brooks Report
1962 war: Henderson Brooks Report: An Introduction
1962 war: The Chinese perspective
China-India relations: 1899-01
China-India relations: 1900-1999
China-India relations, 2000 onwards
