A Year Since Galwan Clash: What Has Changed?

Hello defence lovers! A year has passed since the bloody Galwan Valley Clash in which 20 braveheart soldiers of the 16 Bihar regiment had sacrificed their lives to protect our motherland. So over the year what has changed? In this article, we are going to discuss what is the status of disengagement in Ladakh. We would also try to understand why China is dragging India into a long haul.

The Bravehearts Of Galwan

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The Galwan Valley Clash

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At 7 pm on 15 June 2020, Col Santosh Babu and his 35 men from the 16 Bihar regiment went to PP 14 outpost to verify whether the Chinese had vacated that post. Soon they were encircled by the Chinese. Soon the verbal spat between the Indians and the Chinese turned into a bloody brawl. Indian troops rushed to the site and the fight continued for 4 hours. 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives including Col. Babu, the commanding officer of 16 Bihar. The Chinese side received even heavier casualties. According to various reports, 40+ Chinese soldiers were killed in action. No other country is as shameless as China, which cannot honour its own soldiers who have sacrificed their lives protecting their nation. To this day China is busy hiding the actual numbers and spreading its malicious propaganda. Journalists in China who have questioned the Evil Chine communist party about the numbers have already disappeared.

Aftermath Of Galwan Clash

Soon after this event, PM Narendra Modi visited Ladakh. In early July India and China began talks for disengagement in the Galwan valley and Pangong Tso. A dramatic incident took place on the night of 29th August 2020, which brought the ball to India’s court. Indian Army occupied the Strategic heights in the south bank of Pangong Tso lake. These included extremely important Kala top, Helmet top, and the Kailash Ranges. It was a blunder for China as the Moldo base was in the line of sight of the Indian troops. India now controlled the dominating heights. According to General YK Joshi, Nothern Commander, this was when India and China were at the brink of war.

After 10 months from the beginning of the standoff, the Chinese agreed to disengage from the Pangong Tso friction point. 4 months have passed since then but there is no sign of disengagement at other friction points such as Gogra, Hot springs, Debsang, and Demchok. Even now, 60 thousand troops are deployed on each side of LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

What Are The Reasons Behind This Situation?

If we look from the Chinese perspective, the situation becomes quite clear. China has taken what it claimed in 1959 before the 1962 Sino-Indian War. So China has no good reason to disengage. At Pangong, Tso India was at the dominating position due to the occupation of the Kailash ranges. That was the real reason why China agreed to disengage. It was definitely a trap by the vicious Chinese to nullify India’s advantage. China continues to build up its infrastructure and strengthen its military at its side of LAC. China has no reason to vacate the other friction points and it continues to enjoy the stalemate condition. However, the Chinese troops do not seem to enjoy it.

China has ever-increasing hunger for land. China is encroaching almost its every neighbor’s land even including its fanboy Pakistan. China is using its proven salami-slicing tactic (which it had applied in the South China Sea) in central Asia.

China’s Motive

Nobody can take better advantage of the situation better than China. In 1962, China used the distraction of the Cuban Missile crisis to invade India, as no one was going to come at India’s Rescue. In 2020, china caused worldwide suffering by deliberately spreading its Coronavirus and then took the advantage of the Pandemic to start the standoff thus trying to quench its thirst for territory. Its other motive was to embarrass India on the world stage by occupying its territory but the plans failed due to swift response of the India Armed forces. One of the main motive was to divert the internation attention from the COVID 19 Pandemic and raise nationalism in its citizens. Xi Jinping also tried to prove its aggressive posture but all these misreably failed after the Galwan Valley Clash.

What Has Changed In One Year Since The Galwan Clash?

Over the period of one year, the Indian army and the Chinese army have disengaged only from the Pangong Tso friction point. It seems that China is least interested in disengaging from other friction points. 11 rounds of corp commander level talks have been organized yet there is no solution to the problem. Moreover, the Chinese side is now refusing to conduct any more Corp commander level talk. Instead, it wants to conduct Divison commander level talks.

How This Situation Can Be Solved?

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There are two ways of solving this complex situation of the Ladakh standoff. One is diplomatic action and another one is military action. The G7 is trying to build international pressure on China. India is already trying to solve this issue diplomatically but it does not seem to be successful. The only option that remains is military action. India has to again gain the dominating positions and show its aggressive posture, otherwise the Chinese are not going to budge. But due to the 2nd wave of the Chinese Virus, the Indian economy is already derailed. It won’t be able to support any large-scale offensive.

Conclusion

China’s plan to prove its dominance in the world and establishing it as a rising superpower has backfired. All its neighbors are fed up with its land-hungry nature. All world powers are uniting against China. Thanks to its bullying nature China does not have many nations in its support. Meanwhile, India’s participation in the quad and alliance with NATO is increasing, the Chinese Idea of opening another front with India is backfiring.