Galwan Valley stand off - What is the real story

The current India-China standoff at Galwan is a cause of anger for most Indians. Simply put Indians hate the chinese, they consider them back stabbers and rouges. Indians are also frustated and confused with a deluge of TV and news reports and are searching to know the truth ( what happened at Galwan?). I was also confused and thought will research and put the whole thing in perspective. 

The border between India and China is divided into three regions - Eastern(1350km), Central(545km) and Western sections ( 1600 km). The Current dispute is in the Western section (Ladakh). Eastern section follows McMohan line ( it goes upto far east India - Arunachal Pradesh) and Central section covers states of Uttarakhand, Himachal pradesh. India and China have disputes on the correct demarcation of the border from Tawang in the east to Ladakh in the west. Typically the chinese walk into territory India claims as its and Indians also walk into territory China claims as its own. You might have guessed that most violations are by the chinese. Their hunger for real estate is insatiable ( Tibet, Aksai chin, Shaksgam valley, Sin kiang etc). India on the other hand takes a defence view on territorial claims, we have been claiming POK but do not really take aggressive steps in reclaiming it. Chinese are experts in taking small bits of land and adding to their kitty. They claim Taiwan, Islands in South china sea etc. So lesson for India keeping adding territory by hook or crook. Typically the disputes are in the Western and Eastern sections of the border , Middle section is relatively quiet. 

Taking a step back into history - Modern India started loosing territory since our first Independent government led by Nehru gave away so called POK. Instead of going full throttle against the pakistan promoted tribals, pashtuns and regular Pakistani army personnel he went to UN in 1948 for cease fire which permanently divided J&K. Look at China it has in its control 43,000 sqkm of India territory ( Aksai chin 38,000 sqkm and another 5000 sqkm of Shaksgham Valley given by Pakis to China in 1962). China occupied Aksai chin after the 1962 war (remember Nehru's Himalayan blunders - Strategic, Tactical, Political and Military. His total belief in Non-alingment, Hindi- Chini bhai bhai day dream, poor choice of military leadership and inept response to chinese aggresssion led to India's defeat which hurts even today. I was not born in 1962 but reading about 1962 loss pains me a lot. Nehru was down right stupid. The loss of 1962 also finished him as a leader. Most damaging of Nehru's legacy is he has put in the seed of non- aggression in Indian minds. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Atal Vajpayee and Modi have since reversed the trend. 

Since the emergence of Modi as a nationalist leader China has been trying to get closer to India and at the same time test him. Modi's aggressive international out reach promoting India and getting closer to US was a cause of concern to the Chinese. Chinese are aware of India's aspirations to be a global power, this is a cause of irritation for them. They do not want a parallel rising power in Asia. The first test was Doklam. Doklam stand-off happened in the Eastern section in 2017 (dispute was about construction of a road in a territory claimed both by Bhuta and China). India stood up for its ally Bhutan in a 70 day stand-off. Great job by our forces and our political leadership they did not wilt under pressure.

Since Doklam China has been relentlessly trying to get unsettle India at the border with border transgressions of 187 in 2019 and 170 till date in 2020.

Come to Galwan - The Ladakh region where the current flare up is happening does not have a clear demarcation of boundary. So whoever builds infrastructure first can claim it is their territory up to that point. You again guessed it right Chinese are good at erecting tents and structures. Indians i am hearing are getting good at that. 

The current confrontation is due to the infrastructure ( roads) being built by India along the LAC. The road starts from Leh -> Dabruk - > Shyok -> to Karkoram pass. Between Shyok and Karkoram pass is called the Dault Beg Oldie road (DBO). India has been building this road on its side of LAC despite confrontations. Chinese are not comfortable with this since this road is 9KM from the LAC and they are aware this road will lead to faster deployment of Indian forces. A branch of the Dault Beg Oldie road branches of to Galwan Valley which is the point of standoff. Galwan river is the highest ridgeline which give Chinese a strategic position. Chinese want to control this area since India once its builds up its roads and other infrastructure will have a dominating position on the Aksai chin plateau. (remember China has illegally built a road from Sinkiang to Tibet through Aksai Chin which India claims) 

What happened at Galwan - We are told that on Jun 15th morning a verification party of 6 Bihar regiment went to patrol point 14 ( PP14) to see if the Chinese have disengaged from the point. Post a Jun 6th meeting between commanders on both sides the Chinese were supposed to vacate the area. Reaching there Indian team found more than a bunch of chinese and apparently agitated on seeing the Indian team. Point 14 overlooks the Galwan valley and is startegic for both parties. We discussed about the Daulat Beg oldie road which is within a stricking distance from Point 14. Chinese wanted to occupy Point 14 permanently to create trouble for Indians who are building up this road that leads to Karkoram pass. They are aware once india builds roads in this area it is getting close to the LAC and also to Aksai chin and the chinese OBOR project. 

Col. Babu and his team are well aware of the importance of Point 14 and hence went all out to force the chinese vacate the area. Remember Point 14 is on the Indian side of LAC and chinese are claiming it falls in their territory. Infact now the Chinese are claiming the entire Galwan valley is on their side of LAC. Anyway once the Indian verification team met the chinese at Point 14 all hell broke loose, the chinese attacked Indians with machetes, stones, rods. Col.Babu and his team were outnumbered and possibly unprepared for the type of warfare chinese indulged in. Chinese were prepared with Iron rods welded with spikes etc but the India team fought and pushed the chinese back. Col. Babu, Havildar Palani and Sepoy Ojha died on the spot rest of them succumbed due to injuries and hypothermia (falling into the river below). In all India lost 20 of its braves. As a professional army India declared in full details the number of its dead and the entire country mourned the loss. We salute our heros and wil not forget their sacrifice. 

The back up team which was about 2 miles away reached to support the advance party, it has hit the chinese so badly that they lost 43 personnel which is confirmed and probably more. Unconfirmed reports say about 100 Chinese died due to the ferocity of the Bihar regiment personnel. Paltan ki izzat (a concept based on regimental values, sacrifice, honour, and tradition) has been restored. All in all about 600 personnel from both sides pushed, joslted that night leading to the disaster. It is possible in the thick of night personnel from India went to the chinese side and vice versa and they were exchanged later the next day. 

China through its spokespersons is giving glib statements about how the Indian side did not stick to the Jun 6th agreements etc. No one is buying their stories.

 As far as my reading goes no world power sided with the chinese version. Infact US Secretary of state Mile Pompeo went on to call china a rogue state which it is. China's actions i am sure will drive India to hasten the projects along the LAC to get to ready to fight another day. This will be a war of attrition and a long one for which India should be prepared. Diplomacy has its place but after 20+ meetings to discuss the border countours nothing has emerged. We should however keep trying but more important strengthen our resolve to call the chinese bluff.