Spears Make An Appearance At the LAC, Shots Fired After 45 Years
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-09-09 09:01:10
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
For 45 years, gunfire was not heard at the LAC between India and China. The last shot was fired in 1975 when four Indian soldiers were ambushed and killed along the dividing line in Arunachal Pradesh. That record was broken on Tuesday. Both countries are blaming each other for what happened. China says that the Indians crossed the LAC and tried to advance into their territory. India says that Chinese soldiers, armed with spears, advanced towards their positions in a menacing way. Each country has alleged that the other fired the warning shots. But it is clear that the situation is fast becoming uncontrollable and can slip out of the hand at any moment.
There were pictures in the Indian media showing Chinese soldiers with spears. It cannot be confirmed from the pictures whether they actually advanced towards Indian positions but the unusual choice of weapons shows that they were planning something on the lines of the hand-to-hand combat witnessed in the Galwan Valley in June when there were several casualties on both sides. Then, too, the Chinese side had sent martial arts experts armed with stones, spears and other sharp instruments to take on the Indians. Soldiers in such mountainous regions are not expected to be armed with such weapons and it shows that China wants to engage the Indians without breaking the agreement of not firing.
China is disturbed and angered by the fact that the Indians control commanding heights in the Pongang Tso area. The control of these heights gives the Indians an upper hand. It wants to dislodge the Indian army from these heights at any cost. Hence, it is trying all possible methods of combat. But the Indian army is maintaining a strict vigil and is thwarting their repeated attempts. The situation is very tense and a final and deadly push by the Chinese cannot be ruled out.
India has been talking to the Chinese in order to peacefully resolve the dispute. But the Chinese are playing a double game. Despite ongoing negotiations, they keep on trying to advance along the LAC in a deceitful manner. Hence, India has to keep its army on high alert, reinforce its positions at the posts it holds by providing supplies and equipment to the soldiers. The Chinese cannot be trusted and India has to be ready with war-level preparedness.
