[New Tang Dynasty Beijing time July 04, 2021]The situation in the border area between China and India continues to be tense. According to US media, both China and India have sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the disputed border and deployed advanced military equipment. The military strength deployed by the two sides at the border has reached the highest level in decades.
The CCP sends 50,000 troops to the border
On July 2, the “Wall Street Journal” stated that the Chinese and Indian armed forces have each dispatched tens of thousands of soldiers and deployed advanced military equipment in the Ladakh area on the border between the two countries, reaching the largest scale in decades. The outside world is worried that the gun will be wiped out again.
The report quoted Indian intelligence and military officials as saying that the CCP has gradually increased its troops in the disputed border areas, and most of the surges have occurred in the past few months. The current number of troops stationed has increased from approximately 15,000 at this time last year to at least 50,000.
These officials said that India has also taken reciprocal action and has deployed tens of thousands of troops and advanced artillery to the area.
In recent months, the two countries have also been building infrastructure, including huts and temporary barracks equipped with thermal insulation, mainly in eastern Ladakh, to ensure that the troops stationed in the Himalayas can survive the cold winter in the Himalayas.
India adds 50,000 troops to the border
According to Bloomberg News quoted four unnamed sources as saying on June 28 that the CCP deployed troops in disputed border areas and expanded military facilities in Tibet. India also added 50,000 troops to the border in order to adopt an “offensive defense” strategy against China.
The source said that in recent months, India has sent additional ground troops and fighter squadrons to three areas along the China-India border. The current Indian troops deployed on the Sino-Indian border have increased to 200,000, which is about 40% more troops than last year.
The new army deployment will give Indian commanders more options, including the deployment of lightweight infantry and more helicopters to carry infantry and American-made M777 howitzers from one valley to another.
According to sources, the northern region of Ladakh is the region with the most troops in India. Twenty thousand troops are deployed in this area. The “Rafale” fighter jets and long-range missiles that India has just purchased from France are also deployed in the border areas to provide support to ground forces.
At the same time, the Indian Navy is also strengthening and extending patrol deployment in important waters, and studying the shipping routes of Chinese cargo and oil.
The CCP has dug bunkers and tunnels
It is understood that the Chinese Communist army will go to Tibet every year to conduct summer training under the command of the Western Theater. Indian officials worry that the CCP will treat routine training as a blindfold this year to allow more soldiers to station in Tibet permanently.
Not only that, the CCP has deployed advanced ground-to-air missiles such as the “Hongqi-9” and built hundreds of new buildings to provide supplies to the garrisons in Rudok and Kangxiwar on the border of Ladakh, Tibet. Back-up.
Indian officials revealed that the CCP has excavated bunkers and tunnels, built hydroelectric power stations, installed solar panels, and set up camps, helipads and field hospitals. In Ritu Town alone, about 20 permanent and temporary camps have been established, which can accommodate 15,000 to 18,000 officers and soldiers.
DS Hooda, the former commander of the Northern Command of the Indian Army, said that the Chinese Communist Army’s infrastructure in Tibet is mostly used to accommodate more troops and improve facilities to support airstrike operations. This is a well-known weakness of the Communist Army and is now being strengthened. .
Expert: India’s increase in troops cannot be seen as evidence of turning defense to offense
However, Srikanth Kondapalli, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at Nehru University, India, believes that India’s troop increase cannot be seen as evidence of a shift from defense to offense. Offensive weapons must be deployed to prepare for a large-scale military conflict.
He said that the CCP has switched from defense to offense, while India is still defensive; the Sino-Indian borders are mostly mountainous terrain. Fighting in the mountains actually gives the defensive side an advantage.
Reuters said earlier that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and India held the 22nd meeting of the China-India Border Affairs Consultation and Coordination Mechanism on July 2. Both sides agreed to consolidate the results of the disengagement of the border defense forces of the two sides in accordance with the consensus reached by the two foreign ministers. Solve the remaining problems in the western section of the Sino-Indian border.
In addition, the two sides agreed to continue to maintain high-level diplomatic communication, provide further important guidance for the proper handling of the Sino-Indian border issues, and actively prepare for the 12th round of military commander-level talks, as soon as possible to determine the specific time and arrangements through the border hotline.
The worst conflict in 45 years broke out on the China-India border
During the tense standoff between the Chinese and Indian military in the border area in May 2020, Indian officials said at the time that Chinese soldiers had crossed three different border points in Ladakh and set up tents and outposts, ignoring verbal warnings asking them to leave. .
On June 15 of the same year, the two armies broke out in the Ladakh region the worst conflict in 45 years. The Indian side claimed that at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed and 76 were injured. Many media reported that the death toll in China was higher than that in the Indian army, but in February this year, the CCP announced 1 death and 3 injuries.
The Indian side exposed that at that time, the CCP soldiers used mace (rusty steel and welded iron nails) to attack, and India counterattacked with stones and so on. After that, Sino-Indian relations took a sharp turn.
On February 17 this year, the Chinese Communists suddenly withdrew from the Pangong Tso area. In April, after a new wave of epidemics broke out in India, the CCP took advantage of the worsening of the epidemic in India and deployed a large number of PHL-03 long-range self-propelled rockets again, causing tensions on the border between China and India.
Yossi, an expert from the National University of Singapore, pointed out to Deutsche Welle that in fact, India has stationed about 200,000 troops in the Sino-Indian border areas since the second half of 2020. However, since China and India reached an agreement in February this year to remove some of their troops. After the border area was evacuated, the current 200,000 troops are not directly in the immediate vicinity of the border.
He said that in the past, India placed its military focus and frontline resources on the western border close to Pakistan, and now the Indian Air Force has deployed a large amount of resources in the border area on the north border with China. This represents the consensus in India that it is not Pakistan but the CCP that India must be prepared to deal with.
Yossi said that basically every armed force in India is preparing for the CCP’s military operations. The CCP’s current military strength is very different, so the Indian army hopes to be part of the strategy to guard against China.
He believes that most of the military situation on the Sino-Indian border should be analyzed from this perspective. When the two countries deploy more troops on the border, it means that their firepower is also stronger, so the possibility of conflict escalation is greater.
(Reporter Li Yun Comprehensive Report/Editor in Charge: Zhu Xinrui)
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